4 ms·
Isn't it true that the far side is darker? The near side will be illuminated either by the sun directly or by light bouncing off the earth. The far side is also
by pdabbadabba 6y ago
Isn't it true that the far side is darker? The near side will be illuminated either by the sun directly or by light bouncing off the earth. The far side is also, of course, intermittently illuminated by the sun. But when it isn't, wouldn't it be much darker?
- inglor_cz 6y agoAlbedo of the rocks matters. Almost all the lunar maria, which are very dark, are on the near side. So, in those places, you get some extra light from the Earth, but less of it is going to be reflected from the ground towards your eyes. The far side is mostly highlands, with albedo twice as high.
- ben_w 6y agoThat is interesting, but does it matter? No atmosphere to diffuse the light reflecting off the ground and in so doing interfere with a telescope.
- inglor_cz 6y agoOh, yes, I forgot we were talking about telescopes and thought about perspective of a human walking around, who cannot escape the reflected light.