Although our knowledge of the depths of space is increasing day by day, we realize from time to time that we cannot even fully recognize the celestial bodies below us, and that we are constantly learning new things about them. In particular, our moon, which is orbiting around us, finds its place at the top of this list of wonders.
Although we have identified itself with the night, you may have noticed that it is also possible to see the Moon in the daytime. So, does this happen by chance, or is there a way to follow these movements of the Moon? Let’s see together.
There are two main reasons why we see the moon during the daytime.
The first of these concerns the Moon’s own structure. With the effect of the lighting methods used in movies and plays, we think that the Moon illuminates us at night and the Sun illuminates us during the day. But as we know, the Moon is not a natural light source.
Therefore, it transmits the light it receives from the Sun to us. This is simply why the Moon appears in the sky and gives us light. In the same way, this is the reason why it shows itself in the daytime.
So, how does it appear night or day?
This is where our second factor comes into play. Completing its orbit around the Earth in 27 days, the Moon spends one half of this time on the side of the Sun and the other half on the side where night prevails. In other words, the distribution of day and night times is equal and is not a coincidence as most people think.
In this process, when it is between the Sun and the Earth, the Moon shows itself in the daytime. But when it crosses the back of the Earth, it now appears at night.
Thanks to this cycle, we are aware of the phases of the Moon.
For example, in order to see the Full Moon phase, the Moon must pass behind the Earth and be located in the opposite direction of the Sun. In this way, the entire face of the Earth is illuminated and all of them are visible.
But if the opposite happens, that is, if the Moon comes out of the opposite direction of the Sun and goes into the same plane with it, the ‘new Moon’ phase takes place. In this case, only the dark side of the Moon faces the Earth and therefore cannot show itself.
In phases other than this, we see that the Moon shows certain parts according to its position.
So where do the stars disappear in the morning when the moon can still be seen?
When you look at it, all the stars are a source of light. However, although the Moon cannot produce light on its own, it can get ahead of these stars. We can show the reason for this as its proximity to us relative to the stars and the gigantic size that comes with it.
Because of these, the Moon can reflect the sunlight to the Earth and make itself visible. But stars that are far away disappear as the Sun rises, as they cannot reach Earth enough to exceed the brightness of daylight.
You can use this site where you can choose the city you want to see what phase the moon will be on on which date. Do not forget to share the questions that you are curious about space and that you would like to be told to a 5 year old in the comments section.
- Sources: NASA, Live Science, UKAstroNut
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