Say cheese! Nasa captures stunning images of the far side of the moon

These amazing pictures capture the moon's cratered surface in the most intricate detail ever recorded. The images, which were taken by NASA’s Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter (LRO), have boosted the resolution of images of the far side of the moon over 100 times. Digital elevation and terrain maps based on the new data reveal the heavily cratered and bumpy surface of the moon in all its complexity. Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk...[/ex ]


For more detail and picture please follow this link below.

Moon picture

Where are the bases?

2nd

So quick question.

Why does the dark side of the moon have less craters than the lighter side of the moon?

Wouldn't you think that the dark side, which is has no protection from incoming meteors would just be completely covered with both large and small craters? Wouldn't the light side have far less since it is somewhat protected by the earth?

Yet it looks to me like there aren't all that many of them.

Makes you think.

Sorry but I just had to do it....




awesome find OP

reply to post by matrixportal


No problem feel free to add more information as long as is doesnt go off topic.

reply to post by Illuminati_2012

Wow that was awesome! Thanks for that.

reply to post by thewholepicture


I'm going to take a stab in the dark that when you're using the terms "dark side" and "light side" you mean "far side" and "near side," respectively.

The far side actually has a ton more craters than the near side. It has been a shield for Earth for millennia. Here are a couple images.

Near side


Far side

reply to post by thewholepicture


It looks, to my untrained eye, as if the back side is dominated by humongus recent impact craters which obliterated the much older craters, like the ones that dominate the near side. The interior of those new giant craters is a blank slate with only a few recent smaller impacts recorder on it. You don't have to have a PhD to see circular features whose diameter is ⅓ the diameter of the moon.

okay the moon DOES rotate on its axis right? just in synch with us so we never see the other side? so why is one side so much more pock marked than the other if both had equal exposure to the "far side"?

reply to post by tonypazzohome


Best possibility is that the vast majority of craters that exist were likely formed billions of years ago, during the height of bombardment events. This tapered off, over time....as more and more debris got "swept up"..both by the Moon, and by Earth. Of course, Earth has weather and erosion and plate tectonics, etc. SO, most evidence long ago erased.

The near side of the Moon clearly has experienced a period of surface lava flow activity. The far side did not.

Gravitational stresses, from the pull of the Earth? Maybe. Theories on that constantly evolve, there needs to be more exploration to get better picture, and answers. Perhaps some of the Apollo samples gave a few hints....still, the magma activity was a LONG time ago, too...but mostly AFTER the greatest, heaviest bombardment period. So, in a way, it was the Moon's way to "erode" the past...just not as effective as the Earth's, lacking any atmosphere. Just different.

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And, to add another thought, forgot to mention on this:

...the moon DOES rotate on its axis right?

Yup...however, for US, at this time, is coincidence that the Moon is gravitationally "locked". Well, not "coincidence", really....probably has been that way for millions of years, at least. And will be for many millions more. Our little "window of existence" is but a sliver of that time scale.

BUT..a billion? Two, three billion years ago? During the heavy meteor bombardment, the Moon's period of rotation was faster...it was NOT "tidally" locked. It orbited closer, too....but that wouldn't have affected its impacting potential with space debris.....


BTW, following OP's link to the Daily Mail site....the first image is looking at the south pole, mostly. You can tell by noting the lines of latitude, and longitude, for orientation...compare it to a globe of the Earth, if you have one....( or, a globe of the Moon! Even better! )