Does the moon have day and night?
Every side on the moon experiences day and night. Since the moon rotates on its axis once each month (see previous question), any given location on the moon would see a “day” about two weeks long, followed by a “night” of the same length. Your students may make this connection themselves by realizing that the visible face of the moon is darkened (e.g., night) for about half of each month as the moon goes through its phases. Look at the picture to the left. This amazing photograph was taken by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft as it swung by Earth on its way to Jupiter. The photo is one of very few that exist that show the Earth and Moon together in the same picture. It’s easy to tell which is the day and night side of Earth. The relationship is the same on the moon, which we’re used to seeing in phases. There is a day and night side of the moon too.
