Moon reflection?

[junebugbug6]

I was told the moon seen in the day is just a reflection, but how does that explain eclipses?

 

[drwayne]

What you may have been told is that the way that you see the moon is through reflected sunlight - the moon is a very good reflector (the technical term is that it has a fairly high "albedo") - it emits very very little visible light itself.<br /><br />Eddies suggestion about the appropriate forum by the way is correct.<br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>

 

[brandbll]

I tried to convince one of my really gullible friends one time that it was actually a relfection of the Earth off of it's own stratosphere. <br /><br />"Man, isn't that so crazy that you can actually see a reflection of Earth off of it's own stratosphere..."<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="3">You wanna talk some jive? I'll talk some jive. I'll talk some jive like you've never heard!</font></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

Actually the moon is a lousy reflector, albedo ~ 0.11<br />(reflects 11 precent of light, except at the time of the full moon).<br />Nearly as black as asphalt?<br /><br />In any case, the sun is very bright, so it makes up for it. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[bbk1]

The moon reflects only 11% of the light? That's very interesting. Any idea why it's such a poor reflector? Does it have to do with the fact that it has so many craters?

 

[MeteorWayne]

Not really. It's just very dark material. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[willpittenger]

The strange thing is that the Moon is one of the bright objects in the night (or <font color="yellow">daytime!!!</font> sky. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>

 

[bbk1]

It seems so bright because of its very close proximity to Earth.

 

[MeteorWayne]

And the brightness of the sun.<br /><br />The sun is ~ Mag -26.8, the full moon is ~ -12.7<br /><br />So the sun is about 450,000 times brighter than the full moon! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

BY the way, welcome to Space.com.<br />An excellent question! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[rfoshaug]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>I was told the moon seen in the day is just a reflection, but how does that explain eclipses?<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />As has already been mentioned, the moon is always the real moon. However the person who told you that has probably misunderstood something that is often pointed out: that the moon does not "shine" or "glow" by itself - it just reflects sunlight as opposed to the sun, which actually creates light.<br /><br />But there's no difference between the moon seen in the day and the moon seen at night. Same moon. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff9900">----------------------------------</font></p><p><font color="#ff9900">My minds have many opinions</font></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

The only difference is how much brighter the air in between is <img src="/images/icons/cool.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[willpittenger]

<b><i>And</i></b> how close the Moon is to the Sun. Think about it. The light from the Sun doesn't have to travel far to reach the Moon, bounce off, and then enter your eye. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>

 

[mystified]

I was reading this thread and noticed part of crazyeddie's reply: "Next time, you might want to post such questions in the "Ask the Astronomer" forum. "<br /><br />That tells me I might be posting in the wrong forum, too (I posted a different question here, but still this forum). You see, I thought THIS IS the "Ask the Astronomer" forum. Is there another place I should be asking questions? (just want to do it right).....thanks....

 

[nexium]

Possibly this thread was moved from a different forum. Alternately crazyeddie is confused. This question is in the best forum.<br />I agree the moon shines by reflected light, both day and night, however, it is not correct to say "the moon is just a reflection" Neil

 

[telfrow]

The thead was moved from Free Space, where it was originally posted, to ATA, where it should get more responses and answers. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>

 

[mystified]

OK...got it <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> Thanks for the clarification....

 

[doubletruncation]

There has been a lot of very interesting discussion in this thread! One thing I didn't learn until recently is that the reflectivity (albedo) of the moon is very angle depedent - with a strong preference for back-scattering the light towards the source. One interesting manifestation of this is that the full moon is about ten times brighter than two quarter moons (quarter moon being when we see half the surface facing us as illuminated) - see for example, http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1511/is_n8_v14/ai_14655794 . This actually is the explanation for a number of the supposed evidences for odd lighting conditions in apollo images and films given by moon hoax conspiracy theorists. The so-called "opposition surge" can also be seen when you look at the light curves of asteroids, kuiper belts and other rocky bodies - and it tells us something about the properties of their surfaces. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[junebugbug6]

Thanks for the info. I thought that sounded wrong. I will be careful about my next posting location. Thanks

 

[rfoshaug]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>One thing I didn't learn until recently is that the reflectivity (albedo) of the moon is very angle depedent - with a strong preference for back-scattering the light towards the source.<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />This was observed by the Apollo astronauts as well. Looking away from the sun, the surface was very bright (as well as having no visible shadows to make bumps or craters stand out).<br /><br />But of course the astronauts didn't get to see that effect in the point exactly opposite of the sun's angle, as it was always in the shadow of... somebody's head... <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff9900">----------------------------------</font></p><p><font color="#ff9900">My minds have many opinions</font></p> </div>