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
Geostationary ring km below GEO to 75 km above GEO and from -15 degrees to 15 degrees declination. Geostationary ring The geostationary ring is a volume segment around the geostationary orbit defined by variations in altitude and declination that can occur for uncontrolled objects left in the geostationary orbit. The geostationary orbit is subject to orbit perturbations caused by anomalies in the gravitational field of the Earth, by the gravitational effects of Sun and Moon, and by solar radiation pressure. A precessional motion of the orbit plane is caused by the oblatedness of the Earth (formula_1), and the gravitational effects of Sun