Why Can You Sometimes See the Moon During Daytime?
Sometimes we can see the moonduring daytime. Some people think that the moon can be seen only at night, but this isn’t true. The moon may rise any time of the day or night.
In the daytime, however, the moonlooks very pale due to the brightness of the sky. The moon travels around the earth, so there are times when you can’t see, it.
But whenever it’s in the right place, you get a moon view-even during the day. So that is why sometimes we can see the moon during daytime.
The fact is that during the lunar cycle it makes a circuit across the sky. At the full moon the moon is exactly opposite of the sun.
However as it gets closer to the new moon, the moon gets closer to the sun. This may make the moon less visible at night but it sure makes it more visible in the day.
Its orbit increases its visibility because the moon gets close to the sun towards the beginning of the lunarcycle as travels around the sky. So it increases visibility during the day.
The moon can be seen at different times during the day and night – but when and where you see it depends on the phase of the moon.
Although the moon gives off no light of its own, it is very bright. This is because it reflects sunlight, and is very close to earth.
It is interesting to note that the moon is actually quite dark, so only about 3% of the sunlight hitting the lunar surface is reflected. However, that scanty 3% of the reflected light is enough to illuminate our night skies back here on Earth.
All of this is to say that while the moon is nowhere nearly as bright as the sun, it’s still much brighter than even the brightest star in our night sky. Therefore, it can shine through the white hue of the daytime sky and be visible, even at high noon!
Content for this question contributed by Max Swanger, resident of Santa Cruz, California, USA