Visibility Of The Moon
The Moon is considered a night light that appears in the sky, replacing the Sun. But why, in this case, it can often be seen during the day on the background of a clear blue sky? Moreover, it turns out that with minimal knowledge in the field of astronomy, as well as due luck, you can see other space objects at the same time as the Sun.
Reasons for visibility and invisibility of objects in the sky
The Sun is the closest star to Earth, which is the only one in the solar system. It is also, due to the relatively small distance, becomes the brightest, although there are stars in the Galaxy which shine even brighter than the Sun. There are hundreds of billions of stars in the Galaxy as a whole. However, most of them are considered dim. The further away an object is from Earth, the dimmer and less visible its light becomes. Stars and other celestial bodies do not disappear in the daytime. When the Earth rotates around the Sun, it illuminates its surface and surrounding space so much that it becomes physically impossible to see the stars in the sky. It’s all about the brightness of the objects. For the Sun, it is almost -27 stellar magnitudes. For comparison, the full Moon gives a visible light of -13. Other objects are even smaller. That is why it is very difficult to see anything in the sky at the same time as bright sunlight.
However, some space objects become visible during the day under certain circumstances. These include the Moon, the planets Venus, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, and even the international space station. This is due to the fact that these objects appear brighter compared to the stars.
When can the moon be seen during the day?
The Moon appears in the sky at the same time with the Sun quite often – you can see it almost every day. The exception is days when the satellite is approaching the full moon and new moon phases. The fact is that during the full moon, it is located on the opposite side from the Sun. Moonrise begins with Sunset, so it is impossible to see it during the day. When the satellite is in the new moon phase, it gets as close to the Sun as possible. In addition, it faces the Earth with the unlit side, so it is not visible.
On the other days, the Moon is clearly visible to the naked eye during the day. If it is growing, you should watch the sky in the afternoon in the East, and if it is decreasing – in the first half of the day in the West.
