What is on the dark side of the earths moon?

Answer 1

The dark side of the Moon is the side facing Earth, the side we always see.

The near side is as dark as asphalt pavement, except during the near-full moon when crystalline back scatter boosts reflection. Amateur astronomers can measure the Moon's albedo during various phases and see the difference on instruments. However, the human eye tends to ignore absolute brightness and notice contrast.

Much of this low albedo is due to the widespread basaltic lava out-flow that filled the lower elevations on the near side. Part is due to the nature of collision scattering that has spread tiny fragments of the lava onto brighter, higher areas of the near side.

The far side of the moon has a much thicker crust and, in spite of the more intense meteoric bombardment, has retained the brighter color of that crust.

Historically, the word "dark" was, among other meanings, a synonym of "unknown". Perhaps you have heard the puzzling phrase "darkest Africa", which just says that the (European) speaker and listener knew nothing about that part of the African continent. In that sense, the far side of the moon was historically described that way.

I believe that most readers can understand that the the far side of the Moon has a day/night cycle, just like the near side obviously has, and the Earth has. Therefore, few people spoke of the far side as in perpetual night, but in the old sense, as unknown.

Answer 2

The dark side of the moon refers to the side of the moon that always faces away from Earth, not because it is dark, but because it is not visible from Earth. It receives just as much sunlight as the near side. Both sides of the moon experience alternating periods of day and night due to its rotation.