Near side of the Moon Near side of the Moon The near side of the Moon is the lunar hemisphere that is permanently turned towards Earth, whereas the opposite side is the far side. Only one side of the Moon is visible from Earth because the Moon rotates on its axis at the same rate that the Moon orbits the Earth – a situation known as synchronous rotation, or tidal locking. The Moon is directly illuminated by the Sun, and the cyclically varying viewing conditions cause the lunar phases. Sometimes the dark portion of the Moon is faintly visible due to earthshine, which is indirect
Total eclipses on the Moon than on Earth with up to around 2.8 hours. Some total-partial eclipses have a most, half or a part of the Moon being in the center of the Earth's shadow. Unlike the Earth which it umbral shadow shows black, as the Moon has no atmosphere, the surface appears red because the only sunlight available is refracted through the Earth's atmosphere on the edges of the earth as it is shown in the sky in a painting by Lucien Rudaux. Total eclipses on the Moon Total solar eclipses on the Moon are caused when the Earth passes in front of the