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
Partial eclipses on the Moon Partial eclipses on the Moon Partial solar eclipses on the Moon are caused when the Earth passes nearly in front of the Sun, blocking a part of its light. Viewers on Earth will see a penumbral lunar eclipse. During its eclipses, the Earth will be in new phase, completely dark, except for moonshine and sunlight refracted through the earth's atmosphere, visible as a ring of light. Unlike the Earth's which shows slightly darker shadows at 50% obscuration and mostly dark at over 75% obscuration, the Moon's penumbral shadow on the surface shows light yellow at the start and the end