Why are the near and far sides of the moon so different?

Earth’s Moon has a ‘near side’ that is perpetually Earth-facing and a ‘far side’, which always faces away from Earth. Earth ended up being the larger daughter of this collision and retained enough heat to become tectonically active. The Moon, being smaller, likely cooled down faster and geologically ‘froze’.

What is the currently best theory for why the side of the moon facing Earth and the side facing away from Earth look different?

Bottom line: New research suggests that a wayward dwarf planet collided with the moon in the early history of the solar system, causing the stark difference between the moon’s heavily-cratered far side and the lower-lying open basins of its near side.

Why does the near side of the moon have more mare than the far side?

The near side of the moon has a thinner crust on average than the far side, and contains a larger amount of heat producing elements below the crust (causing the near side to be more volcanically active).

Why is there a far side of the moon that is why is there a side that we Cannot see from Earth?

As the Earth is much larger than the Moon, the Moon’s rotation is slowed down until it reaches a balance point. As this NASA animation shows (right), this means that the same portion of the Moon always faces towards the Earth, and we can never see the far side.

Why haven’t we seen the other side of the moon?

We don’t see the far side because “the moon is tidally locked to the Earth,” said John Keller, deputy project scientist for NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter project. The moon’s shape is key to keeping it in sync with the Earth. Long ago, scientists believe, the moon had its own spin.

Why are there craters on the near side of the Moon?

The real reason there are more impact craters on the far side of the Moon is that the near side has a much thinner crust which has allowed volcanoes to erupt and fill in ancient large basins (or large impact craters).

Who was the second man who landed on moon?

Aldrin
Aldrin set foot on the Moon at 03:15:16 on July 21, 1969 (UTC), nineteen minutes after Armstrong first touched the surface. Armstrong and Aldrin became the first and second people, respectively, to walk on the Moon.

Why does the near side of the Moon have more maria and less craters?

The real reason there are more impact craters on the far side of the Moon is that the near side has a much thinner crust which has allowed volcanoes to erupt and fill in ancient large basins (or large impact craters). …

Why are there no mare on the far side of the Moon?

The cooler far side experienced condensation of these elements sooner and so formed a thicker crust; meteoroid impacts on the near side would sometimes penetrate the thinner crust here and release basaltic lava that created the maria, but would rarely do so on the far side.

Why does the moon only show one side?

The Moon orbits Earth once every 27.3 days and spins on its axis once every 27.3 days. This means that although the Moon is rotating, it always keeps one face toward us. Known as “synchronous rotation,” this is why we only ever see the Moon’s nearside from Earth.

A clue as to why the near and far side of the Moon are so different comes from strong asymmetry observable in its surface features. On the Moon’s perpetually Earth‐facing near side, on any given night, or day, one can observe dark and light patches with the naked eye.

Did the earth used to have two moons?

The near side of the has huge regions of ancient lava flows, called Maria. While the far side is almost covered in crater impacts. Planetary geologists aren’t sure, but it is possible that the Earth used to have two Moons. People say that

What is the theory of the origin of the Moon?

The leading theory for the formation of the Moon is the giant impact hypothesis. That theory suggests that a large planetary body roughly the size of Mars, called Theia, struck the Earth. The collision sent an enormous amount of molten material into orbit around Earth, which eventually coalesced into the Moon.

How well do you know the Moon?

The Moon is tidally-locked to Earth, so prior to space-flight, we only knew the one side. There was no reason that the Earth-side would be different from the far side. But now we know different. As the Space Race heated up, NASA sent a series of Lunar Orbiters to check out the Moon in advance of the Apollo missions.