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The parts we do not see are simply in darkness or shadow The far side of the moon and why we can't see it from earth, the answer lies in the fascinating interaction between our planet and its satellite. The phases of the moon are easy to understand once you realise and remember that the phases are dependent upon the location of the sun, moon, and earth
The phases occur because the sun lights different parts of the moon as the moon revolves around the earth. But as the moon orbits around the earth, at some points in its orbit the sunlit part of the moon can be seen from the earth, and at other points, we can only see the parts of the moon that are in shadow. There's a swath of our natural satellite that always faces away from our planet
The reason relates to the nature of the moon's movement.
The simple answer (and one that you've probably heard before) is that we only see one side of the moon because the moon rotates around the earth at the exact same speed as it rotates around its own axis, so that the same side of the moon is constantly facing the surface of the earth This means that one full 'day' of the moon (meaning the length of time it takes for the moon to rotate. From earth, the moon consistently presents the same familiar face This common observation, where craters and features appear unchanging, is due to a complex interplay of gravitational forces that have shaped the moon's behavior over vast stretches of time
The phenomenon of tidal locking we always see the same lunar face due to tidal locking, also known as synchronous rotation Discover the science behind why we only see one side of the moon Learn about the moon's rotation, tidal locking, and more in this fascinating article. All of the manned space missions to the moon have landed on the nearside due to communication needs, so humans have physically explored this side much more.
The first time humans actually got a glimpse of the far side of the moon was in 1959, when the soviet spacecraft luna 3 beamed back the world's first images
It was a pretty big moment, because we're so used to seeing the same side of the moon, day in, day out In the latest episode of. The distinctive pattern of bright highlands and dark lunar maria on the moon has been turned towards us for millennia, visible to every human who has ever stood on earth But why do we only see this one side of the moon
We know that earth spins about its axis, so why don't we get to see the full lunar surface as our moon does the same? Sunlight illuminates half the earth and half the moon at all times
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