Myths and Misconceptions: Dark Side of the Moon
What exactly is the ‘dark side of the moon’?
When we watch the phases of the Moon progress over the course of a lunar month (29.5 Earth days), you’ll notice that even as the lighting changes, the surface never looks different. Why is that?
After engaging in a gravitational tug-of-war for millions of years, the Moon orbits the Earth in what scientists call a tidally-locked orbit, in which one face of the Moon is constantly facing the Earth. The result is that we’re unable to see the far side of the Moon from Earth at any point in its orbit. However, the Moon is freely rotating on its own axis even as it revolves around the Earth, meaning the Moon has days and nights just like on Earth, so it’s not accurate to say that there is a “dark side” as every part of the surface receives sunlight at some point (except in the deepest craters in the polar regions which are forever deep inside a shadow, like a well).
As the Moon revolves around the Earth, it has a slight wobble that actually allows us to peek slightly around the limbs, revealing 59% of the Moon’s surface. Anything beyond that limit and we need satellite imagery to see, enter the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Check out their website, where you can not only view the far side of the Moon in great detail, you can also view Apollo landing sites, recent craters, and animations of all sorts of lunar phenomenon.
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