What Makes the Moon Shine So Brightly?

The moon shines because it reflects sunlight. Like a shiny mirror, the moon grabs the sun’s light and sends some of it back to Earth, that's why we can see it at night. Sometimes the whole moon is bright, like when it’s full. Other times, only part of it glows, like during a crescent phase.

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Examples

A shiny plate in a dark room reflects the light from a lamp, just like how the moon reflects sunlight.
When you turn on your flashlight in a dark room, it shines brightly because all its light is pointing toward you, that's like a full moon.
If only half of a mirror is facing you, it glows faintly, similar to a crescent moon.

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Categories: Space · moon· lunar science· earth-moon system