Why The Moon Glow?

The people in ancient times thought that the Moon has its own light. But the truth is very dark and the moon do not shine as seen by us. So, how the Moon could be seen glowing?

The moon can be seen as reflecting the sun shine in accordance with its orbit, but not the entire surface of the moon reflects the light. Of the entire surface, only half are facing directly at the sun, and reflected light. In reflected light the way are also different from the mirror.

At full moon, the sun is directly located on the Earth and Moon line. As seen in the sky was a thin crescent, this month marks the sun only shines from the side.

This reflects the way similar to the mirror, but can not be said as a mirror. All objects in space have separately albedo is a measure of the ability of these objects reflect light. For example, objects such as ice, and soil. Ice has a high albedo, while the soil has a low albedo.

However, the Moon is actually very low albedo, even similar to coal. Bright light is actually the result of the opposition effect. This effect is similar to what happened when he saw headlights shining on a dark road, the road will look much brighter than when no light reaches it.

In the case of the Moon, the Sun is shining directly at him cause the light of the Moon. Reflected light is then amplified by a large amount of dust on its surface, so that it can appear brighter.