Moon - Search for the darkside

 Yesterday, I was watching a documentary called the wonders of moon and came to discover about it's dark side. It left me so awestruck that I decided to do my own research on it. Let's see what are these :-

SOME FACTS...

First of all, the ''dark side of the moon'' is sort of a cool misnomer, which actually is called the far side of the moon which not visible to us earth being. In fact the dark side is not darker than any part of the moon as sunlight falls equally all sides of the moon. So, the moon's far side is dark only in the sense that it is mysterious.

                    NASA


INTRO...

Only one side of the moon is visible to us on earth which is called the near side. The far side only was visible to the humanity when the Soviet spacecraft Luna 3 sent pictures home orbiting around the moon in the year 1959.


                                                                                                                                                       


                         LUNA - 3                                                               1st image of dark side                                          


WHY DO WE ONLY SEE ONE SIDE...

A phenomenon called '' tidal locking '' is responsible for it. Due the gravitational effect of the earth on the moon, the moon and earth are tidally locked.


This means that it takes same amount of time for the moon to rotate once about it's axis as it takes for the moon to make one orbit around the earth. The moon's rotation and orbital period both are under four weeks. This synchronous rotation causes one side of the moon to always face the earth.

WHAT'S SO SPECIAL ABOUT THE FAR SIDE...


The far side looks very different from the near side. The moon's far side is heavily cratered but it lacks broad, dark, lower lying basins, the lunar sea or '' maria '' as earlier scientist called it as they thought they were bodies of water by analogy on earth but were later found to be attributable to volcanism.


The near side of the moon (left) looks very different from the far side. Image via NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter/GSFC/Arizona State University/Slate.    


On the far side are present the craters which are created due to the tilt of moon's axis. It is a very interesting phenomenon...the patches of lunar surface which are perpetually ''dark''.


            NASA/GSFC/ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY


So, although the dark side of the moon do not exist but much interesting and mysterious 
''craters of eternal darkness'' do exist.







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FINDING HAPPINESS IN LITTLE THINGS

Image
 It's so unique how we as human beings can portray our emotions in different forms and little things can make us feel so grateful and peaceful.     1. DRAWING AND COLOURING       So, this was when I was feeling very anxious about completing all my tasks and checking the monthly goals only to find that out of five major goals to achieve I have only completed one and it was devastating. It was taking over my performances and the anxiety was giving me a headache so to deal with all of this bottled-up emotion I decided to take a time off and sit and draw (which I can't even remember when I did the last time) and ended up making this Madhubani painting. Yeah!! It was just a simple drawing but the emotion I felt when I completed was something I can't express in mere words. First, after all the workload putting a tick mark on one of the to-do list items felt so good. Second, it gaves my mind peace ✌ for that one hour and forty minutes I forgot about all ...
Read more

THE FAST FASHION INDUSTRY

Image
  The Dark Side of Cute Clothes: Unveiling the Fast Fashion Industry Ugh, another impulse buy from that online retailer? We've all been there. That trendy top for just Rs.200? So cute, and who can resist a steal, right? But have you ever stopped to consider the true cost of that cheap garment? The dark secret of fast fashion is that it's built on a foundation of environmental exploitation and unethical labour practices. Let's rip back the curtain and see what's really going on. The Trend Machine Never Stops Fast fashion thrives on one thing: keeping you hooked on the newest trends. New collections drop faster than you can say "FOMO" (fear of missing out), pushing you to constantly chase the latest styles. This relentless cycle creates a mountain of textile waste – clothes that get tossed after just a few wears, ending up in landfills and taking centuries to decompose. A Stain on the Planet The environmental cost of fast fashion is staggering. It's t...
Read more

This too will become a past and you will mourn it

Image
There's a peculiar weight that settles on my heart these days. It's a feeling that tugs at the edges of my consciousness, a subtle whisper that reminds me of the fleeting nature of now. I find myself mourning the present as if it's already a memory, grieving for moments even as I live through them. This sentiment, I believe, is not entirely unique to me. I have always been a nostalgic person living by pages already turned. But especially now that I have crossed the threshold from adolescence into adulthood. Growing up is a strange experience; you don’t realize it’s happening until one day, you find yourself on the other side, looking back and wondering where the time has gone. Suddenly, you’re another year older, and you're right in the middle of it all again. Over the past few years, many things have changed for me—mostly for the better. Yet, I still feel like I’m saying goodbye to a world that once felt so familiar, to a time in my life that was warm and comfortable. ...
Read more