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
Discourse on the Tides is the motion of water relative to the earth, but annual revolution is the motion of the earth, and its water, relative to the sun. Annual revolution results in a force that accelerates the earth-water system but does not accelerate the water relative to the earth, in the same way that an observer standing on Earth's surface does not feel the gravitational attraction of the sun because the observer and Earth are moving together around the sun. The discourse does not include gravitational forces in its theory to explain the Earth's orbit and does not consider the relation between the