Sidereal rotation in the context of "Synodic rotation period"

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⭐ Core Definition: Sidereal rotation

In astronomy, the rotation period or spin period of a celestial object (e.g., star, planet, moon, asteroid) has two definitions. The first one corresponds to the sidereal rotation period (or sidereal day), i.e., the time that the object takes to complete a full rotation around its axis relative to the background stars (inertial space). The other type of commonly used "rotation period" is the object's synodic rotation period (or solar day), which may differ, by a fraction of a rotation or more than one rotation, to accommodate the portion of the object's orbital period around a star or another body during one day.

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Sidereal rotation in the context of Lunar day

A lunar day is the time it takes for Earth's Moon to complete on its axis one synodic rotation, meaning with respect to the Sun. The synodic period is about 29.53 Earth days, which is about 2.2 days longer than its sidereal period.

Informally, a lunar day and a lunar night are each approximately 14 Earth days. The formal lunar day is therefore the time of a full lunar day-night cycle.

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