Because it never faces the Earth.
We see the Moon from different angles. When the Moon is opposite to the Sun in the sky, we see the illuminated part. When the Moon is in front of the Sun, we see the dark part. At a 90 degree angle, we see half of the Moon illuminated, and half dark.
At the moments of First Quarter and Third Quarter, the half-disk that you see is 50% of the "light side" ... half of the moon's illuminated surface. The entire moon is still there in the sky. The 'missing' half of the disk is comprised of half of the moon's dark side, which you can't see at that time. Because it's dark !
At the time of First Quarter and Third Quarter ... when the moon looks like half of a disk in the sky ... you're looking at half of the moon's light side and half of its dark side. Of course, you can't see the half of the dark side that's right there in front of you, because it's dark.
you see the dark side of the moon when you see half the moon. because there is always a full moon but you only see some of it exept when there is a full moon
At just about any phase, you can see half of the Moon's surface. Close to new moon, however, it may be hard to see the dark side.
At just about any phase, you can see half of the Moon's surface. Close to new moon, however, it may be hard to see the dark side.
You often CAN see the "dark side of the Moon". It's easiest to do around the first quarter Moon or a day or two before that. The Sun shining on the Moon causes the Moon to reflect light, and we call this "moonlight". But if you were on the Moon and looking at the Earth, you could see the Earth by reflected sunlight, which we would call "earthlight". When we look at the first quarter Moon, we can often see the dark side of the Moon illuminated very slightly by reflected earthlight!
The moon is always half dark. The half facing the sun is light, the other half is dark.However, during a lunar eclipse, the moon would be temporarily all dark since it is in the shadow of the earth.
As viewed from Earth, we never see the complete bottom half of the Moon illuminated. Due to the position of the Moon in relation to the Sun, the angle of the Lunar terminator, which is the line between the dark and bright parts as we see it, does change. So sometimes more of the lower half is lit than the upper half. There isn't a particular name for that.As viewed from Earth, we never see the complete bottom half of the Moon illuminated. Due to the position of the Moon in relation to the Sun, the angle of the Lunar terminator, which is the line between the dark and bright parts as we see it, does change. So sometimes more of the lower half is lit than the upper half. There isn't a particular name for that.As viewed from Earth, we never see the complete bottom half of the Moon illuminated. Due to the position of the Moon in relation to the Sun, the angle of the Lunar terminator, which is the line between the dark and bright parts as we see it, does change. So sometimes more of the lower half is lit than the upper half. There isn't a particular name for that.As viewed from Earth, we never see the complete bottom half of the Moon illuminated. Due to the position of the Moon in relation to the Sun, the angle of the Lunar terminator, which is the line between the dark and bright parts as we see it, does change. So sometimes more of the lower half is lit than the upper half. There isn't a particular name for that.As viewed from Earth, we never see the complete bottom half of the Moon illuminated. Due to the position of the Moon in relation to the Sun, the angle of the Lunar terminator, which is the line between the dark and bright parts as we see it, does change. So sometimes more of the lower half is lit than the upper half. There isn't a particular name for that.As viewed from Earth, we never see the complete bottom half of the Moon illuminated. Due to the position of the Moon in relation to the Sun, the angle of the Lunar terminator, which is the line between the dark and bright parts as we see it, does change. So sometimes more of the lower half is lit than the upper half. There isn't a particular name for that.As viewed from Earth, we never see the complete bottom half of the Moon illuminated. Due to the position of the Moon in relation to the Sun, the angle of the Lunar terminator, which is the line between the dark and bright parts as we see it, does change. So sometimes more of the lower half is lit than the upper half. There isn't a particular name for that.As viewed from Earth, we never see the complete bottom half of the Moon illuminated. Due to the position of the Moon in relation to the Sun, the angle of the Lunar terminator, which is the line between the dark and bright parts as we see it, does change. So sometimes more of the lower half is lit than the upper half. There isn't a particular name for that.As viewed from Earth, we never see the complete bottom half of the Moon illuminated. Due to the position of the Moon in relation to the Sun, the angle of the Lunar terminator, which is the line between the dark and bright parts as we see it, does change. So sometimes more of the lower half is lit than the upper half. There isn't a particular name for that.As viewed from Earth, we never see the complete bottom half of the Moon illuminated. Due to the position of the Moon in relation to the Sun, the angle of the Lunar terminator, which is the line between the dark and bright parts as we see it, does change. So sometimes more of the lower half is lit than the upper half. There isn't a particular name for that.As viewed from Earth, we never see the complete bottom half of the Moon illuminated. Due to the position of the Moon in relation to the Sun, the angle of the Lunar terminator, which is the line between the dark and bright parts as we see it, does change. So sometimes more of the lower half is lit than the upper half. There isn't a particular name for that.
The moon is only visible because of the sun's light, which is why the moon appears to glow. When there is a half moon, only half of the moon is reflecting off the sun's light. It all has to do with the angle of the moon, the sun, and the Earth, which is why the moon has so many different phases.
Only half of the moon is illuminated by the sun with the rest in shadow. Try it with a ball in a dark room, with one light source - the half facing the light source will be lit up, while the opposite side will be dark. It's the same with the moon. As the moon moves around us, we see the different phases from full moon to new moon, depending on our relative position with the sun and moon.
A half moonA half moon