Our next question asks what the dark side of the moon is, that mysterious place made reference to by so many. While we cannot argue that in fact, there is an album by Pink Floyd of the same name, this is not the answer we really wanted. The correct answer the side of the moon away from the sun.

It is often mistakenly believed that one side of the moon never receives the light of the sun. It takes the moon about the same time to turn once on its axis as the time it takes to revolve once around the earth. Because of this, we always see the same side of the moon.

But the other side is not in perpetual darkness, in fact, a space traveler from say Mars, would see the moon's far side go through phases just like the ones we on Earth see of the side facing us.

Another interesting misconception about the moon is to think that any part not seen is not there. It is not uncommon to see a cartoonist draw a crescent moon with stars placed where the unlighted lunar portion is!

We have talked about full moons, new moons, crescent moons and dark sides of the moon. We are learning "lunar literacy."

Q 4) What is a Blue Moon?