Originally posted by twhitehead
No, actually, it wouldn't. The moon would block out half the observable sky at any given time, so even if you can move the telescope, you are limited in where you can point it.
That isn't a significant problem unless you are in a big hurry to see a particular part of the sky right now!
That is because, within each lunar cycle, because the moon turns on its axis, you would have the opportunity to point it just about anywhere you like.
If you have more than one telescope on the Moon, it makes sense to have them widely spaced over the Moon in such a way that, if for some reason you were in a big hurry to see a particular part of a sky, at any point of time, there is usually at least one telescope that can immediately point that way.
A space based telescope beats a moon based one in just about every conceivable way.
Not necessarily.
If it is a radio telescope, being on the far side of the Moon would mean almost all radio interference from the Earth (except some of the extremely long wavelengths ) would be blocked by the Moon from reaching it. This would be an advantage.
I envisage in the far future, if it is a giant telescope, it can be much more feasibly be built via robots and robot factories on the Moon using processed material mined from the Moon. Out of the many alternatives, I think the alternative of bringing all that material from the Earth into space would be much more problematic although there are alternatives not involving the Moon that avoid that.
Plus the far side of the moon means you can't even use it for earth observations.
Most star-gazing telescopes aren't for observing Earth.
I would think Earth-satellite telescopes, like what we already have, especially made and put in space to just observe the Earth only all the time and not the stars would be better for that.
I believe the lack of atmosphere does mean that you can use it during the day.
and at least if the telescope also looks at the infrared, preferably with giant portable/adjustable shades to keep a shadow constantly case over the main reflector to keep it cold else infrared part of that astronomy would be more limited.