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Due to its tidal locking, the moon always shows the same side as Earth. Additionally, we can't see the other side directly from Earth, called the "dark side" or "far side."
Due to its tidal locking, the moon always shows the same side as Earth. Additionally, we can't see the other side directly from Earth, called the "dark side" or "far side."
The Moons phases are created by the sun. The side that glows is facing the Sun, while the dark side is facing away. Since the moon is tidally locked, we can see different phases of it along its path. The moon phases repeat about every 29.5 days.
While we can not sense the effect of the moon's gravitational force on Earth, the force is the cause for tides. The moon pulls the ocean into two bulges which the earth rotates into, which causes low tides. This means the majority of water is stored there, so the rest of the Earth has low tides at this time.
Fun Fact!
The moon is not as wide as Australia! The moon's diameter is less than the width of Europe and/or the United States. If you put a highway around the circumference of the moon, you could drive around it in 100 hours (at 60mph).
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