If the MOON reflects sunlight, why are the moon landing photos so DARK?

reply to post by SpearMint


That's cool, I knew what you were getting at, just clarified for the sake of the "others"....

The simplest way to answer your question Op is that when we look up at the moon, the light that our naked eye is seeing is particles travelling down through our atmosphere, the many different layers of our atmosphere is loaded with water vapour.

The light particles become exaggerated as they pass through these water particles (prism-like) to our naked eye. Ergo the light our naked eye is looking at is actually much more exaggerated than what is really being reflected.

Another words, the surface of the moon is not as bright as what we're seeing from down here on earth underneath our atmosphere. aka: Atmospheric disturbance and light reflection dependent on the amount of water vapour over your head that you're looking through to see the moon.

That's also why the moon appears brighter on some nights and not as bright on others.

Also couldn't the same be said about taking pictures here on earth with it being so bright during the day . I would think how much light reflected from earth would be even greater with water bouncing light back into space the light reflected from the earth would be even brighter than what we see from the moon .

reply to post by stumason


Okay tell me what is causing this reflective light and where is the source of light, how come we don't see the rays of Sunlight bouncing off the Moon? How come the Moon always stays the same brightness? Wouldn't this change? Your condescension is not enough to make me think you have a clue...explain it to me...What is reflective on the Moon?

reply to post by freedomSlave


Exactly.

That's why astronauts are so awed by the sheer brightness and beauty that the earth is reflecting back out when they're up there in space looking down.

reply to post by BrokenAngelWings33


Uhhh if you stand in front of a light are you not visible ? Or are you of reflective glow in the dark material


ETA the sun doesn't get brighter or dimmer

Click here for more information.

reply to post by BrokenAngelWings33


I answered your question of what on the Moon is reflective. A while ago (back when you first asked it).
As for why the Moon doesn't change in brightness...it does, slightly, but it doesn't get far enough from, or near enough to, the Sun to make that change significant enough to notice.

Surprised about the reactions of some people who feel they have to be rude to others who may or may not know less than they do. Is there any hope for humanity when we have to behave in such a childishly superior way?

Now to the topic. Moondust contains a lot of titanium dioxide and aluminum oxide. These chemicals give the moon a metallic grey lustre that we can see here on Earth. As the moon is directly reflecting light from the sun, and has a high reflectivity, it can appear very bright. I don't know why you think Apollo photos are so dark. Some show a very bright, well lit landscape. It depends greatly on the camera's aperture and shutter speed settings. There are plenty of less reflective (darker) spots on the moon, these are called Lunar Mare (or lunar seas) and have a high proportion of basalt. One last thing, your pupils dilate at night which increases the contrast between the bright moon and the night sky. If you have seen the moon during the daytime then you will know the moon is not that bright.

static.flickr.com...

reply to post by BrokenAngelWings33


Matter reflects light. The moon consists of matter.

When you are standing in a dark room and there is light coming from another room you see the source of that light...do you not? When something gets in the way of that light source it changes? So tell me how in the world you think the Sun is what causes the Moon to shine and reflect light? Like I said hook line and sinker....hey believe what you want to believe...that's your problem.

Originally posted by BrokenAngelWings33
reply to post by stumason

 

Okay tell me what is causing this reflective light and where is the source of light, how come we don't see the rays of Sunlight bouncing off the Moon? How come the Moon always stays the same brightness? Wouldn't this change? Your condescension is not enough to make me think you have a clue...explain it to me...What is reflective on the Moon?

Put your hand in front of your face. Can you see it? If yes, it's reflecting light. If no, see your GP.

reply to post by BrokenAngelWings33


Are you referring to the Earth getting in the way of the Sun's light? Normally, the Earth isn't between the Sun and the Moon so as to do that. When they do line up, we get a lunar eclipse.

dun dun dddaaaa..

Answers have been given but ignored. My post was not helping so I'm removing it.

Good luck OP.

Originally posted by BrokenAngelWings33
Okay tell me what is causing this reflective light and where is the source of light, how come we don't see the rays of Sunlight bouncing off the Moon?

What is causing the reflective light? The Sun!

How come you don't see the "rays of sunlight"? You are, it is the reflected light!

Originally posted by BrokenAngelWings33
How come the Moon always stays the same brightness?

It doesn't, not here on earth. Atmospheric conditions and the aforementioned lunar eclipse are two examples of it changing. In space, however, it will remain constant as sunlight is constant.

Originally posted by BrokenAngelWings33
Your condescension is not enough to make me think you have a clue

Don't care, it is something so simple even my 9 year old's understand it.

Originally posted by BrokenAngelWings33
...explain it to me...What is reflective on the Moon?

What is reflective on the moon? Er, the moon? Everything you see is reflective, even you.

reply to post by BrokenAngelWings33


The moon doesn't shine it's not wet . it is not metallic . It is illuminated by the sun why does this concept eludes you so much ?

Originally posted by BrokenAngelWings33
When you are standing in a dark room and there is light coming from another room you see the source of that light...do you not? When something gets in the way of that light source it changes? So tell me how in the world you think the Sun is what causes the Moon to shine and reflect light? Like I said hook line and sinker....hey believe what you want to believe...that's your problem.

Ummm... they didn't point the cameras toward the sun while taking the pictures so the sun wouldn't appear in the photographs......is that what you're wondering about??

reply to post by thesmokingman

The moon is about the same distance from the sun as the Earth, so you'd expect it to look about as bright as it does on the surface of the Earth. And it does, where the sunlight touches it. But without the atmosphere scattering the incoming light, there's nothing to illuminate areas that are occluded from the sun's direct rays, so there are a lot more shadows.

science.nasa.gov...