The moon. when we look at it and it is mostly dark is that the dark side?

Question

we actually see both sides only only the dark side is there but not reflecting light?

Answer 1

no. It is just the the direction the sunlight is coming from. Half the moon is always lit by the sun, we may see all or none.

The first link below shows a movie of the phases. The moon looks like it is in a rocking chair. This is the full cycle of the moon, 29.5 days.

Answer 2

no we don't see both sides... only one side faces us.... when it's dark, it's because the other side is now facing the sun....the whole moon gets sunlight .... we just don't get to see the other side when it's lit up or ever!... unless we fly over, that is....

Answer 3

There is no "dark side of the moon".  This is simply a poetic notion.

There is a back side of the moon, the side that always faces away from the Earth.

The dark regions on the Moon are the Lunar Mare, regions of dark volcanic rock.  There the Mare regions on the back of the Moon are much smaller than those on the front.

Answer 4

no, the dark side is just the side that you can't see from earth, the dark side isn't really ''dark'', he also receives light

Answer 5

No. The moon does not have a 'dark side'. All of its surface is lit by the sun at one time or another. When the side facing Earth is dark, the other side is lit, and vice versa. One side of the moon faces Earth at all times, the other side can't be seen from here, ever.

Answer 6

no. i'm not sure what your refering to when you say dark. you might mean some of the craters. well, the dark side of the moon is a bit of a misnomer. its actually considered the far side of the moon. the far side of the moon isn't dark, we just can't see it because the moon rotates on its axis at the same rate at which it orbits the earth which is once about every 27 days. therefore, we only see one side. so yes, the light from the far side is not reflecting, because it isn't facing earth, thus not facing the sun at the time. we can't see both sides.

now are you talking about phases? phases happen on the side of the moon we can see as a result of earth's shadow. its not actually the far side of the moon. the far side is located oposite to the side that we can see from earth. from space, we can see the far side. an space mission had astrnautes loop around the moon in the 60's letting people see the far side of the moon for the first time.

Answer 7

Check here...this should answer all of your astronomy questions.  It helped me through undergrad.

Answer 8

Relative to the Earth, the Moon makes one rotation every 29.5 days. That happens to also be the time it takes for the Moon to complete one revolution around the Earth.

So the dark side can't face us.

Actually we can't see exactly 50% of moon surface  If the Moon were flat we can see 50% But we see only 41% because Moon is a sphere. And the spherical shape of the Moon hides the area close to the perimeter.

But due to librations (irregular motions of the Moon in its elliptical orbit around the Earth. They are measured using longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates) the maximum amount of lunar surface that we can see over time is 59%.

Answer 9

The moon side with the "man in the moon" (near side) is always facing us, always. This near side during the condition you described, is mostly having its nighttime. As the month goes on, the near side turns to get more sunlight, until fully facing the sun. Now it's "full moon". As the month goes on, the moon continues to turn, and that near side gets turned away from the sun and gets progressively dark.

From our view, the moon has phases. If you were living on the moon, you would experience appx 2 weeks of daylight and 2 weeks of night.

This may be more information than you sought.

Answer 10

No, the dark portion that you see is the shadow of the earth.  the earth travels around the sun and the moon around the earth during the different phases of the moon the earth shadow is cast causing the dark portions.  When the moon is full the sun can fully shine on its surface and that light is casted back toward the earth.  The "Dark side' is the portion of the moon that faces away from the sun.

Answer 11

Yes.  When there is a crescent moon, as an example, the dark part of the moon that you see is the dark side of the moon, the side that is not lit by the sun.  Just like the earth, the moon rotates, so the dark side changes with time, so no part of the moon is always the dark side, it is just the dark side while it is night for that part of the moon.

Can't resist saying, "there is no dark side of the moon.  matterof fact, it is all dark", which presumably you will recognize as the ending to the pink floyd album of the same name.