01-17-2004, 04:24 AM
There is no "dark side of the Moon". The Moon is locked in synch with the Earth so that its "day" corresponds to its period of rotation around the Earth, or a Lunar month. Actually, there's a slight difference in the Lunar day since the Sun's apparent position varies as the Earth-Moon system revolves around the Sun, but that's pretty minor in the grand scheme of things. Maybe one of the LL astronomers can give correct technical terms - I've forgotten them. :(
So the Moon has a day-night cycle of about 28 days.
There is a "far side" of the Moon that we don't get to see on Earth, since the same face of the Moon is always facing us.
So the Moon has a day-night cycle of about 28 days.
There is a "far side" of the Moon that we don't get to see on Earth, since the same face of the Moon is always facing us.