Q. Why do we only ever see one side of the Moon ?
There is no permanently dark side of the Moon. But we do only ever see the front of the Moon and not the back due to an effect called 'tidal locking'. Over time the Earth's gravity slowed the Moon's rotation on its axis until it matched the time it takes to orbit us (both 27.3 days).
So, the Moon is rotating, we just never see the other side. The Moon is always half lit up and half not (day and night, just like on Earth). Where this sunlight falls depends on the Moon's position around the Earth. When between us and the sun the back is completely illuminated - definitely not dark. The only time it is completely dark is when we are experiencing a full Moon.
There is no permanently dark side of the Moon. But we do only ever see the front of the Moon and not the back due to an effect called 'tidal locking'. Over time the Earth's gravity slowed the Moon's rotation on its axis until it matched the time it takes to orbit us (both 27.3 days).
So, the Moon is rotating, we just never see the other side. The Moon is always half lit up and half not (day and night, just like on Earth). Where this sunlight falls depends on the Moon's position around the Earth. When between us and the sun the back is completely illuminated - definitely not dark. The only time it is completely dark is when we are experiencing a full Moon.
No comments:
Post a Comment