Why do we see only one side of the moon?
407247
Curious is correct. It is tidal lock, not coincidence, that causes the phenomenon you ask about. Eventually, the earth would get into tidal lock also, and always show the same face to the moon, but before that happens the sun will expand in its death throes and engulf the planetary orbits out beyond Mars.
218551
It rotates on its axis once per month. If you could stand on the sun, you would see all sides of the moon in the course of a month. Also, if you could stand on Mars you would see all sides of the moon in the course of a month. The "single face" issue arises because we on earth are right in the middle of it--as the moon rotates on its axis once per month, it also revolves about the earth at the same speed, always showing the same face to the earth.\n\nSince the moon does not always show the same face to the sun, there is no "dark" side of the moon. All parts of the moon get equal amounts of sunlight, just as all parts of the earth do. There is a "far" side to the moon, the side that is always facing away from earth.\n\nAnother way to think of it is to think of the flagpole planted by astronauts. It of course is pointed toward the earth at all times. At the time of new moon (when the moon is between the earth and the sun), the flagpole is pointed toward the earth and the outer solar system, toward the realm of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. At the time of full moon (when the earth is between the sun and the moon), the flagpole is pointed toward the earth and the sun. Obviously the moon rotated so as to bring the flagpole from pointing to the outer reaches around to pointing toward the sun.\n\n\nFor Dirty Idea (below): ask your question as a Yahoo! question and maybe I'll look it up for you. I think it has to do with tidal locking. It's not a coincidence at all.
560103
yes, we see the dark side of the moon every new moon.  the dark side of the moon is just the night side, the side on which the sun is not shinning.  the far side of the moon is the side which is permanently turned away from us because the moon spins with about the same period as it orbits the earth, but the moons orbital speed does change a little because its orbit is not a circle but an ellipse.  the moon orbits faster when it is closer and slower when it is farther away.  this means we get to peek at a little of the far side every month.
50505
There's the Man *in* the Moon, but not the Moon *in* the Earth.  So far, there is only one moon orbiting the Earth and its name is ... "Moon".
1073929
Assuming that the moon is at a location visible from both Greece and Texas, which is entirely possible, then yes you will both see a full moon.  If not, then Greece will see a full moon as soon as the moon rises for them.\n\nBut chances are, you are asking about the "fullness" of the moon from different terrestrial vantage points.  Then the answer is still yes, because what people perceive to be a "full" moon is subject to a very wide margin of visual ambiguity.  The moon can be "not quite full" by several degrees and still appear perfectly full and round to the human eye.  This is what lets us see a full moon for an entire night, and in fact most of the time, for several nights in a row.\n\nIf our visual acuity were able to discern the lit versus dark surface of the moon under more strict contrast (much, much more strict), then for most of that time we would see the tiniest sliver of dark and perceive the moon as not-quite-full.  The closer our vision approaches to perfect (and the more perfectly transparent our atmosphere becomes), then the less amount of time we would believe the moon were truly full.\n\nEventually, and technically, the moon can only be truly full for a fraction of a second, but then it would only be so during the peak of a lunar eclipse, which rather takes away from its "fullness", haha.  This is the instant that the moon is perfectly opposite the Earth from the sun.
746634
Day or night, you are seeing the portion of the moon that is facing the sun. The only time Earth blocks illumination of the moon is during a lunar eclipse, which happens only two or three times a year.
933431
The Moon is spherical, so of course half of it's hidden all the time. The Moon's in a tidally locked orbit as well, so the same face is always towards Earth; 44 percent of the Moon's surface can never be seen from Earth.\n\nBut I don't think that's what you were asking. I think you were asking why the Moon looks like a sliver. It's also simple: the Moon is lit by sunlight. You will notice the bright part of the Moon ALWAYS, without exception, points at the Sun. (Sometimes you can faintly see the side away from the Sun; this faint illumination is sunlight bouncing off Earth's clouds and feebly illuminating the Moon through radiosity.)\n\nTo demonstrate the phases of the moon, get a ball and a lamp in a darkened room. Hold up the ball in front of you and turn around. Notice the phases of the ball, just like the Moon.
643921
Sean is right but it was manufactured that way as a perfect observation post from the aliens inside it observing us.\n\nthe moon is an artificial satellite and is hollow.
435638
The reason why they are more prevelant on the near side of the moon is because the Earth shields that side from meteoric impacts.\n\nSince the same side always faces Earth, the other side doesn't have the protection of the massive earth to suck up all the inbound meteors.  Thus, there are more impacts on the far side of the moon and more craters and less maria.
371904
A month. That's why we only see one side of the moon. (Hence the Pink Floyd song Dark Side of the Moon). :)
1016790
It's because your mind sees the moon in proportion to landscape features when it is low.  It's kind of an optical illusion - it's not really bigger but your mind interprets it as bigger.
1066975
It would seem logical to say that at any one time we can see 50% of the Moon's face. If the Moon were flat, that would be correct, however we know the Moon is a sphere. And the spherical shape of the Moon hides the area close to the perimeter and we can, at any one time, see only 41% of the Moon's face.\n\nEven though the same side of the Moon's faces us, we do see a bit more than half of the Moon's face. Over time, because of librations, we can see up to 59% of the Moon's surface
417252
If you mean, Why does the moon travel from East to West ?" The answer is because The Earth rotates in the opposite direction.  In fact, the moon actually travels from West to East, and this can be seen simply by observing it on consecutive nights, and compare its position in the sky with other celestial objects.
840266
If you can see the moon from both points at the same time then the phase of the moon will be the same.\n\nIf however the moon is visible in Britain, but still below the horizon in Australia, then the phase will have very slightly changed by the time the moon rises in Australia.
1023489
No.  But we see only the side that faces earth.\n\nHere's a good diagram that explains it better than I can...\n\n\nhttp://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/the_universe/uts/moon2.html
77245
"The Moon also turns around, but its "day" is a whole month long.  Because it takes as long for the Moon to orbit the Earth as it does for the Moon to rotate once, the same face of the Moon is always pointed at the Earth.  Humans had not seen the "far side of the Moon" until we were able to send spacecraft behind it.  Remember, though, that the FAR side of the Moon is not always the DARK side of the Moon"
768438
The main reason is that there is no weather on the moon to erode the surface.  Additionally, there is no tectonic movement of the surface of the moon.  Because of both these things, the surface of the moon is stable, while the earth's surface is constantly being altered.