Delightful rotating Luna video from NASA

[Extollager]

APOD: 2013 September 16 - Rotating Moon from LRO

I hadn't realized how very different our side is from the other side of the moon.

 

[jastius]

funny how all the damage is on the side facing earth...

 

[Foxbat]

Fascinating. I wonder if all the damage on our side is something to do with gravitational fields between Earth and the Moon?

 

[jastius]

perhaps it has something to do with all the mythos cycles of wars of the gods and the destruction of atlantis and the loss of paradise and the fall from heaven. a prehistoric battle gone wrong..

all the flood stories... perhaps it wasn't a voyage on water. but a forty day journey to a new world.... if it was the right type of wood could it be heat shielded enough for an interplanetary leap.

 

[JunkMonkey]

I thought all the damage was on the "Dark Side" I always understood the darker areas the so called seas were oldest parts of the moon's surface...

 

[Foxbat]

I thought all the damage was on the "Dark Side" I always understood the darker areas the so called seas were oldest parts of the moon's surface...

This would make more sense (at least to me). I'd have thought meteor strikes etc. on the outward side would have been more likely.

 

[Mirannan]

I believe that one of the reasons for the asymmetry is that the crust is thinner on th side facing Earth, because of tidal forces. In turn, this means that impacts didn't cause as much lava flow on the far side.

The seas are actually newer than the highlands. Incidentally, please allow me to reveal a pet peeve - references to the dark side of the Moon. The side away from Earth is no darker than the side facing us - except for Earthlight during the lunar night, I suppose.

 

[The Judge]

I thought all the damage was on the "Dark Side" I always understood the darker areas the so called seas were oldest parts of the moon's surface...

According to this website, in fact the maria are the youngest areas, as evidenced by the lack of cratering (though I'd have thought Earth itself might have protected the near side, and therefore the lava "seas" to some extent) Surface Properties of the Moon


EDIT: must type faster... Mirannan beat me to the answer!

 

[Gordian Knot]

Yep. The far side is the most cratered. That is because it is dark and the asteroids couldn't see it in time to change trajectory (Sorry Mirannan. Couldn't resist!).

The far side is the most cratered because the moon is tidal locked with the earth, which as we all know means the same side of the moon is always facing us. The far side is facing out so it gets pummeled. The side facing us is protected because it is facing us!

My understanding of the Maria (dark areas without much cratering) is that they are some of the oldest parts of the moon. Which is the opposite of what Judge found. The reason those parts are the oldest is that when those areas were bombarded early in the moon's history, it was still molten, or at least had a molten interior. Impacts disappeared as lava flow covered them over.

 

[JoanDrake]

I think facing Earth would protect it some but not as much as one might think. Impactors are almost as likely to come from the sunward side a the non-sunward, and they'd only have a little further to go, relatively. The Earth itself would be a negligible shield from things coming from all angles.

Then again, most would come from the ecliptic, as they all formed there, yes? So maybe I'm wrong.

 

[JunkMonkey]

The seas are actually newer than the highlands. Incidentally, please allow me to reveal a pet peeve - references to the dark side of the Moon. The side away from Earth is no darker than the side facing us - except for Earthlight during the lunar night, I suppose.

I think 'dark' in this sense is being used figuratively to mean hidden, obscure, or in ignorance. Like 'Darkest Africa' just meant those parts of Africa that were unexplored (by Westerners).

 

[Mirannan]

I think facing Earth would protect it some but not as much as one might think. Impactors are almost as likely to come from the sunward side a the non-sunward, and they'd only have a little further to go, relatively. The Earth itself would be a negligible shield from things coming from all angles.

Then again, most would come from the ecliptic, as they all formed there, yes? So maybe I'm wrong.

I'm not sure either - but I suspect that isn't the case. IIRC the majority of the Moon's really big impact basins (such as the mare areas) were created during the Late Heavy Bombardment period c. 4 billion years ago, and during that time the majority of the impacts were from comets - which come in from the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud, neither of which are restricted to the ecliptic.