The Earth Rotates on Its Axis, Can We See Its Rotation?

Nationalgeographic.co.id—It is common knowledge that the Earth continues to rotate on its axis, from West to East. But we cannot see the Earth rotating in real time because it rotates so slowly.

If the Earth didn’t rotate, there would be no sunrises and sunsets, and no day and night. We cannot feel the Earth’s rotation or see the planet spinning as we go about our daily lives.

But is there a way to ensure its rotation off the ground? And is it possible to see our planet rotating from somewhere in outer space?

The answer depends on your time frame and perspective.

The Earth rotates too slowly for its rotation to be visible from anywhere in real time. With the exception of time-lapse videos, such as those made by the United States Space Agency NASA using footage from cameras on the International Space Station.

It’s impossible to see the Earth moving as it only makes one revolution every 24 hours. It was very slow, too slow for our eyes to detect.

However, there are still ways to prove that our planet rotates without leaving Earth, namely by observing the positions of celestial bodies, for example.

“The easiest way to observe Earth’s rotation is to observe the actual motion of celestial bodies,” Stephen Merkowitz, a scientist and project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, told Live Science.

“This motion is most noticeable when objects are close to the horizon where you have the visible part of the Earth as a reference.”

Merkowitz said one of the easiest ways to “see” the Earth moving is to watch a sunset. The position of the celestial body (sun) changes with respect to a fixed reference point (horizon).

When you watch a sunset, your location on Earth gradually rotates away from the sun, which is why the sun appears to sink toward the horizon.