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Putting An Observatory On The Moon's 'Dark' Side

Posted by timothy on from the harsh-mistress-good-vantage dept.

wytcld writes: "CNN reports astronomers are pushing for a radio telescope on the 'dark side of the moon' (do real astronomers call it the 'dark side,' when it gets plenty of light?). The proposal by Yuki David Takahashi is amazing mostly because a guy just starting work on his Master's is managing major press for it. Still, a nice dream."

4 of 314 comments (clear)

  1. If you're a RADIO astronomer, yes... by brassman · · Score: 5, Informative
    ... the far side would be the dark side as far as you're concerned. The amount of radio crap we're spewing makes the work those guys are doing even more amazing, and sticking a robot observatory on the far side of a stable platform like Luna could produce some really cool results.

    Remember, the money isn't spent in space -- it's spent right here on earth in order to get into space.

    --
    "Ain't no right way to do a wrong thing."
  2. Re:Question... by sbeitzel · · Score: 4, Informative

    A satellite in geostationary orbit still receives a lot of radio noise from Earth. That's sort of the point of GEO, after all. On the far side of the moon, though, there's this big hunk of radio absorbing rock between the antenna and Earth, which would allow the 'scope to pick up much fainter signals.

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    Oh, go on, check out my job.
  3. New Scientist by DeadBugs · · Score: 5, Informative

    New Scientist has more info including a graphic of how the moon shields raido waves

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    http://www.kubuntu.org/
  4. Re:The moon does rotate. by gilroy · · Score: 4, Informative
    Blockquoth the poster:

    The dark side of the moon does face the earth half the time. Have you ever heard of a new moon?

    Bzzzt. But thanks for playing. The Moon rotates at exactly the same rate as it revolves. Thus it always presents the same face to the Earth. That face might be lit (full moon) or might be dark (new moon), but it is the same always. That's why the Soviet pictures (Luna 3 -- see here for one telling) were such a big deal, as they were the first time any human had seen the "dark" (better, far) side.



    The Moon is "tidally locked" to the Earth. Tidal forces have adjusted its rotation so that it presents the same face, due to the equality of rotation rates and revolution rates. So something on the Far Side would indeed be shielded from Earth-based transmissions.

    --
    The Mongrel Dogs Who Teach