Mon Prof Augmenté
The Moon’s Borrowed Light
The Moon does not make its own light. We see different moon shapes because the Sun lights one half of the Moon, and we see different amounts of that lit half from Earth.
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Age 9: open this week
Browse Age 9
In the picture
- 1. The bright lamp bulb stands for the Sun.
- 2. The grey ball stands for the Moon.
- 3. The small inset disc shows the Moon’s lit shape seen from Earth.
Examples
- A mirror reflecting a flashlight looks bright even though it makes no light.
- A ball held near a lamp looks bright on one side and dark on the other.
Key takeaways
- The Moon reflects sunlight.
- The Moon’s shape changes because our view of its sunlit half changes.
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Three questions on this lesson. It has left the free week, so its quiz is for subscribers.
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