“Dark side of the moon” is the most idiotic phrase ever. If anything, the far side gets significatnly more sunlight so should really be called the “light side”.
By what mechanism does the far side get more sunlight? Because it’s never sees…what would we call them from the Moon’s perspective? Solar eclipses? Terran eclipses? Every single New Moon the far side is fully sunlit, but on occasion on Full Moons the Moon flies through Earth’s shadow?
The far side can get darker than the near side. During the lunar night, the near side experiences earthshine, which is significantly brighter than the moonshine we get here on Earth (Earth is larger in the sky and has a higher albedo; bigger and shinier reflector than the Moon)
I propose we call the near side the dark side, because it has almost all of the maria - the dark basaltic lowlands. The far side of the moon is mostly relatively lighter grey highlands and so appears lighter than the near side.
“Dark side of the moon” is the most idiotic phrase ever. If anything, the far side gets significatnly more sunlight so should really be called the “light side”.
By what mechanism does the far side get more sunlight? Because it’s never sees…what would we call them from the Moon’s perspective? Solar eclipses? Terran eclipses? Every single New Moon the far side is fully sunlit, but on occasion on Full Moons the Moon flies through Earth’s shadow?
The far side can get darker than the near side. During the lunar night, the near side experiences earthshine, which is significantly brighter than the moonshine we get here on Earth (Earth is larger in the sky and has a higher albedo; bigger and shinier reflector than the Moon)
I propose we call the near side the dark side, because it has almost all of the maria - the dark basaltic lowlands. The far side of the moon is mostly relatively lighter grey highlands and so appears lighter than the near side.