National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) took to Instagram and shared an incredible image of the ‘far side’ of the Moon. In the caption of the post, the space agency also shared details of the distinct characteristics of the Moon’s far side. After they shared the image, it went viral, leaving many people amazed.
“Often incorrectly called the ‘dark side’ of the Moon – incorrect because it receives equal amounts of sunlight as the near side does – the Moon’s far side has stark characteristics. To start, it’s more heavily cratered and has fewer maria, or large, dark, basaltic plains created by early volcanic eruptions. They’re called maria because that’s the Latin word for seas. Early astronomers thought the dark areas were oceans,” wrote NASA in their post. (Also Read: NASA captures Moon in its crescent phase, stunning picture goes viral)
The space agency also added, “So why can’t we see it from Earth? The same side of the Moon always faces us because the Moon is tidally locked to our planet. That means the Moon’s orbital period is the same duration as its spin around its axis. It takes a whole month on Earth for the Moon to turn once.”
Take a look at the post here:
This post was shared a few hours ago on Instagram. Since being posted, it has gained more than 1.6 million likes and numerous comments. Many thought that the image was ‘incredible.’ (Also Read: NASA discovers potentially habitable ‘super-Earth’ 137 Light-Years Away)
Check out how people reacted to this image:
An individual wrote, “Beautiful, NASA.”
A second said, “Love posts like this. Awesome!”
“That’s so cool to see something that is so familiar look so different!” commented a third.
A fourth added, “Very astonishing, incredible.”
