Earthly humans could never watch the moon rotate because we can only see one side at a time, but now we can sneak a peek.
NASA was able to create a "moon rotation movie" using the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). The video takes place over an entire lunar month, but is condensed into only 24 seconds. The video is featured on NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day.
On the Earth side of the moon one can see patches of "dark lunar maria," while dark side of the moon is covered in lunar high lands.
Two new missions are set to further explore the moon this coming year. The LADEE mission will examine conditions of the lunar atmosphere in hopes of better understanding the atmosphere of similar objects and asteroids.
"The moon's tenuous atmosphere may be more common in the solar system than we thought," John Grunsfeld, NASA's associate administrator for science in Washington, said in a press release. "Further understanding of the moon's atmosphere may also help us better understand our diverse solar system and its evolution."
The craft ran into some technical difficulties during its launch, but the problem is believed to be fixed and LADEE is expected to arrive safely at the moon.
People will able to see the moon clearly from Earth (but not its rotation) this Thursday during the Harvest Moon. The event will be the last full moon of summer, almost kicking off the autumn season, space.com reported.
The equinox (meaning half night) on Sunday will officially mark the start of fall, and day and night will each last for an equal 12 hours.
One will be able to view the dark patches on the moon easily through binoculars, National Geographic reported.
The patches are "vast, ancient lava plains formed over billions of years ago when magma from the moon's interior spilled out onto the surface, triggered by giant asteroid impacts," Nat Geo reported.
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