Tell me why one side of moon is only visible to us?

Question

Pl tell me why only one side of the moon is visible from our earth? Many of us don't know that we have not seen the other side or face of the moon.

Answer 1

Earth and moon both are rotating around its axis in such a way that every time one face of moon faces to earth.

Answer 2

The Moon is in synchronous rotation, meaning that it keeps nearly the same face turned toward Earth at all times

side of the Moon that faces Earth is called the near side, and the opposite side is called the far side

Answer 3

the moon rotates once every time it circles the earth thus keeping the same side pointed toward the earth at all times

to see the other side you would have to leave earth and get a different view

if your friend held a portable television and walked around the room near the walls, with you in the center, and he always pointed the tv screen at you as he circled, you would only see the screen, never the back of the tv, that is how the moon orbits the earth, always keeping one side pointed this way

because of manned flights around the moon we have eye witnesses and pictures that reveal (as you would expect) the backside of the moon is pretty much the same as the earth pointing side

Answer 4

Because as the moon orbits around the earth, it also spins on an axis so that the same face always points to the earth. We have seen the other side, the apollo missions took pictures.

Answer 5

Why do We See only One Side of the Moon?

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. This might seem like a coincidence, but it's not.

In the past, the Moon used to rotate much faster than it does now. But over millions of years, the effect of the Earth's gravity has slowed down the Moon's rotation until it became gravitationally locked to the Earth. This is why we always see the same side of the Moon.

It would seem logical to say that at any one time we can see 50% of the Moon's face. If the Moon were flat, that would be correct, however we know the Moon is a sphere. And the spherical shape of the Moon hides the area close to the perimeter and we can, at any one time, see only 41% of the Moon's face.

Even though the same side of the Moon's faces us, we do see a bit more than half of the Moon's face. Over time, because of librations, we can see up to 59% of the Moon's surface.

Librations are irregular motions of the Moon in its elliptical orbit around the Earth. They are measured using longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates. Both are computed from a central point that is at a fixed geographical location on the lunar surface. This point is in the Sinus Medii, a small plain just below and to the right of he large rayed crater Copernicus. Two meridians emanate from this point: the Central Meridian runs north and south, and the Lunar Equator runs east and west.

Different librations affect different sides of the Moon and each contribute added surface area. The added viewable surface area changes from day to day and month to month. Some librations overlap, but the maximum amount of lunar surface that we can see over time is 59%.

The longitudinal libration is produced by the elliptical orbit of the Moon. Because of the nature of the elliptical orbit, the speed of the Moon changes depending on which part of the orbit it is in. When moving from its fastest point (closest to Earth) to its slowest point (farthest from Earth,) the Moon's speed is slowing down. But, because the Moon's rotational speed stays the same, for a period of time the Moon's face is not pointed directly at us, and this "lag" effect allows observers to see an extra bit of the lunar surface. In effect, we are "peeking" around the edge of the Moon! When the Moon is one quarter of the way around the Earth, it is 97 degrees through its rotation.

This libration is called longitudinal because the extra surface areas exposed are along the lines of longitude (perpendicular to the equator.) The total extra surface area we can see from longitudinal librations is about eight degrees.

There is also a libration that is latitudinal. The plane of the Moon's orbit is titled 5 degrees to the ecliptic. For half the lunar cycle, the Moon is above the ecliptic and for the other half it is below the ecliptic. Each of these half cycles expose an extra bit of the Moon. The extra surface area shown during these librations is at the top of the northern hemisphere or the bottom of the southern hemisphere. The total extra surface area we can see from latitudinal librations is almost 7 degrees.

There is one more librations called Diurnal Librations. This librations occurs every day. Observers can "see" over the top of the Moon as it is rising. Likewise they can see under the bottom when it is setting. Diurnal librations are caused because the radius of the Earth adds an extra 4000 miles of height for looking "over" or "under" the Moon when it is on the horizon. This daily libration gives us an extra one percent of lunar surface area for viewing.

Answer 6

The moon does not spine on it axes like the earth does so that mean it faces the earth all the time. That why we can't see the over side which is called the dark side of the moon.

Answer 7

One theory is that the moon was actually part of the Earth at one time and broke away. It's period of rotation and revolution are the same, so we only see one side. You would think this is rare, but Mercury has the same condition.

Answer 8

rscanner is correct. The Moon used to rotate relative to the Earth, i.e. showing different faces, but tidal forces made it stop.

At least you have an easy job giving rscanner 10 points. All the other answers are wrong or at best incomplete.

Answer 9

The moon orbits the earth, but does not rotate on an axis. The same hemisphere always faces earth.

The other hemisphere has been photographed.

Answer 10

The moon rotates at a speed synchronized with its orbital speed. This happens because the tital forces cause friction on a rotating object and eventually lock it to face in one direction.