Image of the Far Side of the Moon Published as Part of the APOD Project
10.10.2026, 08:16·
COLLECTED AND VERIFIED AUTOMATICALLY
As part of the daily "Astronomy Picture of the Day" (APOD) project, a photograph of the far side of the Moon was published. This resource, operating with NASA's support, presents a new image of space every day with a brief scientific description prepared by a professional astronomer.
The far side of the Moon is the hemisphere that is never visible to observers on Earth due to the phenomenon of tidal locking: the Moon's rotation period around its axis coincides with its orbital period around Earth, which is why the same side of the satellite always faces our planet. Study of the far side of the Moon became possible only thanks to spacecraft, beginning with the Soviet lunar probe Luna 3 in 1959, which first transmitted images of this region.
The far side differs from the visible side: it has almost no extensive dark plains—seas formed by ancient lava flows—but instead is covered with numerous impact craters. This difference is related to the unequal thickness of the lunar crust on the two hemispheres and the peculiarities of the satellite's geological history.
The APOD project has existed for several decades and remains one of the most popular science communication astronomical resources in the world, daily introducing a wide audience to images of planets, nebulae, galaxies, and other objects in the Universe, accompanied by accessible explanations.
This article was generated and published automatically from verified sources. If you spot an inaccuracy, it will be corrected on the pipeline's next pass.
