Our World 4 U:   On the Far Side of the Moon.

Look, and look again!     The video above is a real view of the Earth, and the Far Side of the Moon, taken from about a million miles (1.6 million km) away.     There are five points, in and near Earth's orbit around the Sun, which are kind of "gravity wells". In each of these spots, an object, whether natural (e.g. asteroids) or man-made, can just sort of "hang out".     This is because, in these cases, Earth's gravity and the Sun's gravity cancel out. They are called "Lagrange points", and the one where this picture was taken from is called "L1".     In this spot, NASA has placed a satellite named DSCOVR, which, when fully operational next month, will send back live, streaming imagery of the fully lit side of Earth.     You will be able to log on to their website and see some of this imagery. For now, they have released the above video, taken on July 16.     Occasionally, our Moon passes directly between Earth and the Sun, and this is what you are seeing here.     Note how dark the Moon seems. That is because its surface, surprisingly, on the average, has about the same reflectivity as an asphalt highway. This amazes a lot of people, because it looks so bright in the nighttime sky.     And that is because its brightness is the combined result of zillions of reflections, of sunlight, off the soil particles on its surface. Earth's brightness is actually much greater, as you can see.     Our Moon keeps the same side facing us, all of the time. No one even knew what the Far Side looked like until 1959, when the USSR sent a probe looping around it.     What you are seeing here is the "Far Side", or "Back Side", or "Other Side" of the Moon. There is no such thing as the "Dark Side", as during its orbit around Earth, ALL of its surface gets lit up, for some time, in its roughly 29 day period.     The "Dark Side" exists only in the minds, and collections, of "Pink Floyd" fans!     You can read more about it here.     Image above courtesy of NASA.

Feature GeoStory™:  " Full Tilt "   Forget all the holes. They are the least interesting things about these rocks in Papago Park.   You'll probably not know why, unless you read this.   Read the whole story (archived)....     You can also download and print any of our other GeoStories™ about Arizona and the Southwest for FREE....

Discover the Superstition Mountains:     You can explore an interactive map similar to our other very popular maps.   Simply open GemLand's Map of the Superstition Mountains, and click on any name in color for scenic views and geological explanations.     See more....

FREE MAP of the Geology of the Phoenix area:   Visit the Geology section of our website, from which you can download The Rocks of the Valley of the Sun.   Easy to read and understand, this page-sized map can be carried in your car, used for school reports, or consulted to simply discover how those mountains down the street were created!     Or you can discover the fascinating GeoHistory of the Valley of the Sun in one of our most popular sections....

Event and Meeting Planners please take note:     We have unique, intelligent, and entertaining programs to offer to your clients and guests.  There is no other tour like our "Rocks & Ruins™" adventure.  Two separate programs are available.     For those moonlit evening dinners and parties, we have also added a Lunar Program to our Sky Jewels™ repertoire.  This is only possible for part of each month, though, depending on the phase of the moon.  Schedule your event(s) around the dates below.     All times and dates are MST (= UTC-07).     Astrology (Vedic) Today, September 10, 2015:       Sun is in Leo     Moon is in Cancer     Mercury is in Virgo     Venus is in Cancer     Mars is in Cancer     Jupiter is in Leo     Saturn is in Scorpius     Rahu is in Virgo     Ketu is in Pisces     Where are you?     Find out here.       Upcoming Best Lunar Viewing dates:       September 17 - September 30     October 17 - October 29     November 15 - November 28     December 15 - December 27     Celestial Events to watch for:         SATURN visible - into October     Full Harvest Moon - Sept 27     AUTUMNAL EQUINOX - September 23, 1:20 am MST     Full Hunters Moon - October 27     Full Beaver Moon - November 25     WINTER SOLSTICE - December 21, 9:48 pm MST     Full Cold Moon - December 25       And please remember, evenings for stargazing get taken up very rapidly in season, even months in advance, so booking early is recommended!   Please contact us for scheduling or for more information....