Man in the Moon then cooled, becoming smooth, basalt rock. The near side of the Moon, containing these maria that make up the man, is always facing Earth. This is due to a tidal locking or synchronous orbit. Thought to have occurred because of the gravitational forces partially caused by the Moon's oblong shape, its rotation has slowed to the point where it rotates exactly once on each trip around the Earth. This causes the near side of the Moon to always turn its face toward Earth. Man in the Moon The Man in the Moon refers to any of several pareidolic images of
East of the Sun and West of the Moon East of the Sun and West of the Moon "East of the Sun and West of the Moon" () is a Norwegian fairy tale. "East of the Sun and West of the Moon" was collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. It is Aarne–Thompson type 425A, the search for the lost husband; other tales of this type include "Black Bull of Norroway", "The King of Love", "The Brown Bear of Norway", "The Daughter of the Skies", "The Enchanted Pig", "The Tale of the Hoodie", "Master Semolina", "The Sprig of Rosemary", "The Enchanted Snake", and "White-Bear-King-Valemon". The Swedish version is