There is more to the Moon than we can see, but the truth, in fact, goes beyond our wildest imaginations. This natural satellite has seen the Earth grow from a lifeless rock to a world of skyscrapers and rockets. It holds secrets that none of us are aware of. Perhaps a few of the questions are answered by our scientists after decades of research.
So, why do we only see one side of the Moon? To put it simply, the Moon and the earth both rotate on their axis, and the speed of boasting of both is different. The earth completes one boast in about 24 hours. The Moon completes one cycle in 14 days. So, according to the combination of both of the cycles, a part of the Moon always remains beyond our sight. However, there is a lot more to understand.
The Moon sounded in our fantasy stories, and it is undeniably just a rock too. So, Let’s unfold its beautiful mystery.
1. Why Do We Only See One Side Of The Moon?
1. The Far Side Of The Moon
Why do we only see one side of the Moon? The far side of the Moon, formerly called the dark side of the Moon, is a hemisphere of the Moon whose face is always away from Earth. The area beyond is completely rugged, with a multitude of innumerable impact craters and a relatively flat Lunar Maria. Here is the South Pole-Aitken Valley, one of the largest craters in the Solar System.
2. Tidal Locking
Tidal locking is the reason the Moon has only one face toward the Earth. Living on Earth, we can never see the opposite side of the Moon. To see it, one has to leave the surface of the Earth and go to see the Moon from the other side by spacecraft.
3. It Is a Sphere
The Moon is a spherical body that keeps on revolving around the Earth and being a satellite of the Earth, it keeps on orbiting the Earth as well. It completes the orbit of the earth in 27 days and 8 hours and keeps on rotating on its axis at the same time.
So why do we only see one side of the Moon? It’s because when a sphere is looked at as a plane, it looks like one side of the circle while the other hides back. This is the reason why the same side of the Moon is always visible from Earth.
2. How The Other Side of the Moon Was Explored?
Until 1959, no human had seen the opposite side of the Moon, and its form was completely unknown.
On 7 October 1959, the Soviet Union’s Luna 3 spacecraft succeeded in sending images of some part of the hidden side of the Moon. Of these, 18 images were obtained safely, and humans saw one-third of the hidden face of the Moon for the first time. Gradually, pictures of the rest of the area were obtained, and on 6 November 1960, the Soviet Academy of Sciences published the First lunar cartography (Atlas).
On 20 July 1965, another Soviet spacecraft, Zond 3, produced 25 new high-resolution images showing a series of craters extending for hundreds of kilometres.
3. 27 Amazing Facts To Know About The Moon
The Moon is the most important to us after the Sun. Other than the question of why do we only see one side of the Moon, there are many other such funny, interesting things related to the Moon that you hardly know, like why the size of the Moon changes, etc.
So, let’s find out more things about the Moon.
1. Past of the Moon
Scientists believe that 450 million years ago, a meteor named ‘Thaiya’ collided with the earth, and some part of the earth broke apart, which became the Moon.
2. Size of The Moon
The Moon is roughly one-fourth the size of the Earth in diameter. It is the solar system’s fifth-largest satellite and the largest satellite in relation to its home planet. It is also bigger than any known dwarf planet.
3. No talking!
There is no atmosphere on the Moon, so it is not possible to talk there. Sound waves are mechanical and cannot travel without a medium or atmosphere, which the Moon lacks.
4. Flags on The Moon
Astronauts have gone to the Moon and have often hoisted a flag on its surface. A total of 6 flags have been planted on the Moon.
5. Moon’s Weight and Gravity
The gravitational force of the Moon is 6 times less than the gravitational force of the Earth, and the weight of the Earth is 80 times that of the Moon.
6. All that Shines Is Not Gold
Of course, you can see the Moon shining, but it has no light of its own. It shines by reflecting the sunlight only.
7. Time Game
It takes only 1.3 seconds for the light of the Moon to reach the earth.
8. Fossil Planet
Do you know that the Moon is also called a fossil planet?
9. It Changes Shape!
On the full Moon day, the size of the Moon becomes even bigger. That is, on the full Moon day, its size is 5 times more than the half Moon.
10. Moon Moves Away from Earth Every Year
Earth’s distance from the Moon is increasing every year. The Moon is moving 3.78 cm away from the Earth. If this continues for 50 billion years, the Moon will take 47 days to revolve around the Earth.
Currently, the Moon takes 28 days to orbit the Earth. The distance from the Earth’s center to the Moon’s center is 384,403 kilometres.
11. No Moon?
If there was no Moon, then the earth’s rotation speed would have been, and due to this, there would have been only about 20 hours in a day.
12. There Are Bigger Satellites in The Solar System than The Moon
It is scientifically true that four more satellites are bigger than the Moon in the Solar System. The largest of these is located near the planet Jupiter, which is actually bigger than the planets Pluto and Mercury.
Apart from this, Titan, Callisto, and Eo are also larger than the Moon. Astronomers continue to study. Once only 9 planets were known, but now more than a dozen planets in the solar system have been known.
13. Dust on The Moon, only Dust
According to scientists, a cloud of dust on the surface of the Moon keeps hovering at the time of sunrise and sunset. Why this happens remains a mystery. At the same time, according to scientists, one reason for this may be the electrically charged molecules, but the final truth is not.
14. Moon Also Affects Sleep
The University of Basel, Switzerland, has found in a study that the Moon also affects the sleep of people living on Earth. It is said that where people enjoy good sleep on the new Moon, there is less sleep on the full Moon. It is a different matter that science has not yet been able to prove.
15. The Speed of 19 Mbps on The Moon
Research has also revealed that the Internet can grow on the Moon. Making a world record, NASA has provided the facility of Wi-Fi connection on the Moon, whose speed of 19 Mbps is astonishing.
16. Earth’s Only Natural Satellite
The Moon is a satellite that revolves around the Earth, and it is actually the only natural satellite of the Earth. It is also the 5th largest natural satellite in the Solar System.
17. Lose Weight on The Moon
It has been proved in scientific studies that the Moon’s gravitational force is less than that of the Earth. In general, a person’s weight on the Moon is 16.5 percent less. This is the reason why astronauts jump more on the Moon. It has also been shown in movies.
18. Russia’s Vehicle Passed Near the Moon
The Soviet Union’s Luna-1 was the first spacecraft to pass by the Moon, and the Soviet Union’s Luna-2 was the first spacecraft to land on the Moon. Note that the Moon does not have an atmosphere.
There is very little air there, which is proven because the sky does not appear blue but black from the Moon because the scattering of light is not there. Thus landing there was not possible for Luna-1.
19. A Number of People Have Reached the Moon
The distance from the Earth’s center to the Moon’s center is 384,403 kilometres. At the same time, so far, only 12 people have been able to step on the Moon.
Eugene Cernan was the last man to walk on the Moon as part of the Apollo 17 mission. Since then, only mechanical robots have reached the Moon.
20. India Reached the Moon in 1984
Indian Rakesh Sharma created history by going to space on 3 April 1984. As an air soldier, Rakesh Sharma did not think that his journey would reach space from here, but he stepped onto the Moon with his hard work.
21. Blowing up The Moon
According to reports, in 1950, America had planned to blow up the Moon with an atomic bomb. US military officials hatched this sensational plan to terrify their arch-rival Russia with their might when the Cold War between the two countries was at its peak.
22. Dense Satellite
Of the satellites whose densities are known so far, Moon is the second dense satellite. In the first place is the satellite of Jupiter.
23. Eclipses
If there is a lunar eclipse on the earth, then there will be a solar eclipse on the Moon.
24. Comparison of the Moon and Earth
The Moon is only 27 percent the size of the Earth. The full Moon is 9 times brighter than the half Moon.
25. Moon Rocks
When the Apollo spacecraft came back from the Moon, they brought a total of 296 pieces of rock whose mass (weight) was 382 kg.
26. Temperature
The day temperature of the Moon reaches 180 °C while the night time reaches up to -153 °C.
27. Low Power Works on Moon
Apollo 11’s Landing- It would be surprising to know that your mobile phone has more computing power than the computer used at the time of Apollo 11’s Moon landing.
Conclusion
We learned about why do we only see one side of the Moon and much more in this article. But there are many other undiscussed secrets of the Moon.
The world of stories about the Moon is endless. But beyond all this, science has also put forth very interesting and realistic information about the Moon. Now, It’s just a matter of time before people would go to the Moon for picnics!
For more knowledge of the Moon, check out Moon – Icy Tales
Last Updated on by Sathi