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The "dark side" usually refers not to the illuminated half of the Moon (of which we see varying amounts depending on the phase) but to the face of the Moon that is always pointed away from the Earth, also known as the "far side of the Moon."
The Moon slowly completes one spin during the same time it takes to orbit the Earth, so we always see the same side, or face. This equal period of spin and orbit was caused by tidal effects of the Earth's gravity on the Moon.
The Orbit of the Moon
The first thing to realize is that the Moon both spins on it's axis and orbits the Earth. Crucially the amount of time it takes to rotate around its axis is the same amount of time it takes to orbit around Earth. This means that the same side is always pointing toward the Earth. (This is not a coincidence.) The entire Moon experiences day and night, just as Earth does (because different parts face the Sun). However, a full lunar 'day' takes the same time as an orbit. It takes about a month for the Moon to go all the way around the Earth, so on the Moon the Sun rises (in the west) and sets 2 weeks later.
The hidden half gets the same amount of sunlight as the visible face, so it is completely dark only when there is a Full Moon (the entire illuminated half is the side visible from Earth). The first pictures of the far side of the Moon were taken in 1959 by the Luna 3 probe sent by the Soviet Union.
Confusing Terminology
The side of the moon that we can never see from Earth is often called the "dark side" (a) because it sounds cool, and (b) because darkness is a powerful metaphor for the unknown. In fact, the so-called dark side of the moon is not really dark. Luna has day and night on every part of its surface (just like Earth, only Lunar days are 28 Earth days long). During a new moon, for instance, the "dark side" is flooded with light.
Tidal Forces
How is it that there's a part of the moon we never see? Like many moons of planets in our solar system, our moon, Luna, keeps one side to its primary continually (there's a little wobble, so we can really see about 55% of the lunar surface). This condition of the Moon is being "tidally locked." This situation develops with all moons and planets over a long time. This means that the Earth's rotation is slowing, too, and it will eventually become tidally locked to the Moon. At that point, only about half of the Earth would be able to see the Moon. This will not occur for a very, very long time, but scientists can measure the tiny lengthening of the day.
Quibble
To be fair, the far side of the Moon does receive less light than the rest of the Moon, because it doesn't see any of the sunlight reflected from the Earth. So technically, it is a bit darker overall. But almost no one who uses the phrase "dark side of the Moon" is thinking of it in this way.
Half of the Moon is always illuminated and half of it is in darkness. But, we see only one side of the Moon, so there is a close side and a far side.
Over the course of 27 days the illuminated part changes and goes over the entire Moon, so there is not one side that is always dark.
The "dark" terminology for the "far" side of the Moon refers to the inability to view it from Earth. Due to orbital variations (libration), about 18% of the "far side" will be visible from Earth at varied times of the year.
There is only one Sun in our solar system, and all the planets (and most of the moons) are round. So with only one light source, half of every ball is going to be dark.
When the ball is spinning, as most of them do, then there is a light period and a dark period.
Photographers often use large flash reflectors to soften the harsh shadows caused by the primary light source. We here on Earth are blessed with a large reflector in the sky, which reflects the Sun's light back onto the dark side of the Earth. It's the Moon.
Some scientists have proposed building enormous mirrors in orbit to reflect the Sun's light back down onto the Earth, to give us a more uniform illumination. Sort of the ultimate solar-powered street lighting.
Not any more. It was at one time, though even then it was somewhat misleading. The word "dark" in the phrase "dark side of the moon" is from an older sense of the word meaning "unexplored, unmapped" (the same sense is meant in another phrase you may have heard: calling Africa "the dark continent".)
On average it's no darker (in terms of illumination) than the side facing us, and we've sent probes there so now it is in fact mapped and can no longer properly be called "dark" even in the "unknown" sense.
When there's a full moon the far side is the dark side, but when it's new moon the far side is actually the light side.
Actually, all the lunar maria are on the near side, and they're rather darker in color than the average lunar surface, so it would be more correct in one sense to call the near side "the dark side".
-- Take a soccer ball and a flashlight into a dark room.
-- Turn on the flashlight, and point it at the soccer ball.
-- Half of the ball is lit up, and the other half is dark.
-- No matter how you turn the ball, no matter how quickly you move
or which way you bend, no matter how you manipulate the flashlight,
no matter how much you wiggle and dance ... 50% of the surface of
the ball is lit up, and the remaining 50% of its surface is dark.
-- 50% of the Earth is lit up, and the remaining 50% of it is dark.
The light and dark places keep changing, but the Earth is always
half light and half dark.
-- 50% of the Moon is lit up, and the remaining 50% of it is dark.
The light and dark places keep changing, but the Moon is always
half light and half dark.
Well, technically the phrase "dark side" of the Moon is only half-correct. The Moon's hemispheres are divided into the near side and the far side, and both of these sides receive the same amount of sunlight. We, however, from the point of view of the Earth, only ever see one side of the moon. This is due to the influence of the Earth's gravitational forces on the Moon's irregular shape; this tug gradually reduced the rotational period of the moon until it was the same as its orbit. Because the Moon's gravitational influence is not enough to change the Earth's rotational frequency (only cause the tides), it does not have the same effect. Thus, we only see one side of the Moon, leaving the other side a mysterious "dark side."
'Dark side' is really a misnomer. The entire moon experiences daylight and night time, just as earth does. However, a full day (analogous to earth's 24 hour day) is an entire lunar cycle long on the moon. The side of the moon that faces away from earth might be more properly called the 'far side'.
Many believe that the moon does not turn on its axis, but this is a completely geocentric (and inaccurate) assumption. It is not unlike the belief of centuries past that the sun, moon, planets and stars must orbit around earth; after all, that is how it appears.
In order for the same face of the moon to orient toward earth all of the time, while the moon orbits around the earth, then the moon must turn on its axis exactly once for every orbit that the moon makes around earth.
It was named the 'Dark side' because until the Luna 3 probe in 1959 nothing was known about it. (Dark being used as meaning 'unseeable' or 'mysterious') Now days it is more commonly known as the Far Side.
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How much of the moon iis always lit up by sun?
All sides are lit up. Only one side at a time. There is a term called the dark side of the moon. This term relates to the fact that the moon doesnt spin on its axis like the earth does and one side faces the earth all of the time. The dark side refers not to the abscence of light but radio waves. During the Apollo missions to the moon, as a spacecraft went behind the moon (in relation to the earth) It went into whats called a radio blackout. It was called the dark side because up until the first spacecraft orbited the moon, it had never been seen by man before.
Why is the moon always dark on the opposite side?
No. Just like almost every place on earth, almost every place on the moon has a 'daytime' ... when the sun is up and the ground is light ... followed by a 'nighttime' ... when the sun is down and the ground is dark. On earth, the sun-up and sun-down periods average out to 12 hours each. On the moon, they average out to almost two earth-weeks each.
What is the minimum percent of the moon that needs to be illuminated in order for the phase to be called gibbous?
A "gibbous" Moon has between 51% and 99% of the illuminated side of the Moon visible from Earth. Just to be precise; the Moon is always 50% illuminated. The Moon is a rocky ball, half in sunlight and half in darkness. As the Moon orbits the Earth, the same face of the Moon is always visible. From the Earth, we see "phases" of the Moon as the Moon orbits the Earth. At the new moon phase, the illuminated half of the Moon is the "far side" of the Moon; at the full, the illuminated half is the "near side".
When does the dark side of the moon face earth?
There is no "dark side" of the moon, meaning a side that's always dark. When it's nighttime on the moon on its near side, we see a New Moon. When it's nighttime on the far side, we see a Full Moon.The moon always keeps one face toward Earth, and to do that the moon has to rotate once on its axis every month. If you put a chair in the middle of the room, and you walk around the chair always facing it, then you'll find that you have to turn your body once with respect to the rest of the room before you can make one complete circuit around the chair.The moon does something similar. It always keeps one face toward the Earth - but to do that it has to spin on its axis once a month, at the same time that it's moving in its orbit around Earth. The moon's spin on its axis is what makes it possible for the moon to have a near side and a far side as seen from Earth.
What phase of the moon occurs when all of the moons near side is sunlit?
During the New moon, the lighted side of the Moon is the OTHER side, the side we never see.
How many faces are on the moon?
The Moon has no faces. It has one side facing Earth called the near side, and one side that is always facing away called the far side.
why is one side of the moon called "the dark side of the moon "?
It is called the dark side of the moon because it never faces the earth, this is caused by the fact that the moon's rotation is the same number of days as it's revolution around the earth. Even though it is called the dark side of the moon it still is as bright as the front side. __________________________ There is no "dark side of the Moon"; the entire Moon has a day-night cycle of 29 days. The Moon always has the "Man in the Moon" face turned toward the Earth, and the other, hidden side is the "far side of the Moon".
Why is one side of the moon called the dark side of the moon-?
The "dark" side of the Moon is not a side that's permanently dark, but simply the side - about one half of the Moon - that we can never see from Earth. It's better to call it the "far side" of the Moon. Why the far side is sometimes called the "dark side" is probably just a misunderstanding. Also, it may be to do with the idea that the far side is more "mysterious". Each place on the Moon receives sunlight during the course of a month, as the Moon goes through its phases.
Which side is the so called dark side of the moon?
The dark side of the moon refers to the side of the moon that is not visible from Earth due to synchronous rotation, not because it is always dark. Both sides of the moon receive sunlight, but we only see one side from Earth.
What is called when the waning Moon phase in which only one-half of the lighted side of the Moon can be seen from Earth?
The waning Moon phase in which only one-half of the lighted side of the Moon can be seen from Earth is called the Third Quarter Moon. It occurs when the Moon has completed three-quarters of its 29.5-day cycle.
Why is one side of the moon always lit?
One side of the moon is always lit because of a phenomenon called "synchronous rotation," where the moon rotates on its axis at the same rate that it orbits the Earth. This causes one side of the moon to constantly face towards Earth while the other side remains in darkness.
Why is one side of the moon called the daark side of the moon?
The term "dark side of the moon" is a misnomer as all sides of the moon receive sunlight. The far side of the moon is often referred to as the "far side" because it faces away from Earth and is not visible from our vantage point.
Why can we only see on side of the moon and what is the name given to this side?
This side is called the near side of the moon. We only ever see this side because the amount of time it takes for the moon to rotate is exactly the same as the amount of time it takes for the moon to complete one orbit. This is actually true of most moons due to a phenomenon called tidal locking.
What is the side of the moon called that never faces the earth?
The side that's visible.
What is the hemisphere of the Moon that always faces the Earth called?
The hemisphere of the Moon that always faces the Earth is known as the in close proximity to side of the Moon. Further it is called as far side of the Moon and in the past referred to as the dark side of the Moon.
Moon side you cannot see called?
Our moon is tidally locked with the earth . Because of this tidal friction it takes just as long to rotate around its own axis as it does to revolve around the earth . The synchronicity of this rotation causes the lunar hemisphere we see from this planet to always be the same one . The hemisphere that's always turned away from us is called the "far side " of the moon . The hemisphere that's not illuminated by our sun is called the " dark side " of the moon and should not be confused with the " far side " as they are only the same during a full moon .
Why one side of the moon called the dark side of moon?
There are two reasons: 1. At any given time, one side of the Moon is dark because it's facing away from the Sun. 2. The rotation of the Moon in relation to its orbit around the Earth keeps the same side always facing the Earth. We NEVER see the other side.
