We’ve all learned the term “dark side of the Moon” for the far side of our planetoid’s satellite. This idea is based on a misunderstanding that if we can’t see the opposite side of the Moon, it must be dark. Its appearance appears to change, which is something we call the aspects of the Moon. Interestingly, “New Moon,” which is the moment when the Sun and Moon are on the same side of Earth, is when the appearance we see from Earth is actually dark and the far side is brightly illuminated by the Sun.
Call it what it is: The far side
So, why do we call that portion of the Moon we don’t see an individual month? The better term to use is the “far side.” It makes perfect sense since it is the side farthest away from us.
To understand, let’s look more closely at its relationship with Earth. The Moon orbits in such a way that one rotation takes just about the same length of time as it takes for it to orbit around Earth. That is, the Moon spins on its own axis during its orbit around our planet. One side is facing us throughout its orbit. The scientific name for this spin-orbit bond is “tidal locking”.
Of course, there is literally a dark side of the Moon, but it’s not always the same side. What is darkened depends on which phase of the Moon we see. During a new moon, the Moon lies within Earth and the Sun. So, the side we frequently see from Earth is commonly lit by the Sun in its shadow. Only when the Moon is opposed from the Sun, we notice that part of the surface lit up. At that duration, the far side is shadowed and is positively dark.
Exploring the mysterious far sideÂ
The far side of the Moon was already ambiguous and surreptitious. But that all developed when the first pictures of its cratered surface were transferred back by the USSR’s Luna 3 mission in 1959.
Now that the Moon including its far side has been continuously investigated by humans and spacecraft from various nations since the mid-1960s, we know much further about it. We know, for instance, that the lunar far side is cratered, and has a few large containers called maria, as well as peaks. One of the most comprehensively known craters in the solar system sits at its south pole, called the South Pole Aitken Basin. That area is also known to have water ice hidden away on enduringly sheltered crater walls, and in precincts just below the surface.
It turns out that a little sliver of the far side can be witnessed on Earth due to a marvel called liberation in which the moon vacillates each month, exhibiting a small bit of the Moon we’d oppositely not see. Think of liberation as a limited side to side movement that the Moon encounters. It’s not a lot, but sufficient to exhibit a fraction more of the lunar surface than we frequently see from Earth.
The most recent examination of the far side has been undertaken by a Chinese space agency and its 4 spacecraft. It’s a robotic mission with a rover to study the lunar surface.
Fast realities
- The phrase “dark side of the Moon” is actually a misnomer for the “far side“.
- A side of the Moon remains dark for 14 earth days each month.
- The far side of the Moon has been investigated by the United States, Russia, and China.
