Have you ever seen the moon in the sky but it was not dark outside yet? Have you ever wondered why it happens? The moon is the brightest object in the night sky. During the day, the sun is much brighter. But sometimes, you can see the moon during the daytime. Why is this?
The moon is always in the sky. It orbits (travels in circles) around the Earth. The moon looks bright at night because of light from the sun reflecting off the moon's surface. The sun always lights up half of the moon, but we can not always see that part of the moon. Sometimes it's facing away from us. During the day, we can see the moon if it’s a clear day, and the moon is not hiding low in the sky. But we don't see the moon all the time during the day, and that's because of where the moon might be in the sky.
But then why don't we see the stars during the day?
"The stars are nowhere near as bright as the blue sky during the day, but the moon is approximately as bright in reflected sunlight as the sky during the day, and that's why we can see the moon during the day, but not the stars during the day," O'Meara said.
Why does it look like the moon is following you when you drive?
It's an optical illusion. "The moon is so far away that its size and shape on the sky doesn't change much at all because it's really far away. You driving one mile is insignificant in terms of how it makes the moon look on the sky," O'Meara said. "And because the Earth is rotating around once every 24 hours, that means you don't see the moon moving too much in the sky, except when it's really close to the horizon and you can see the moonset and the sunset happen." So the moon is just so far away, its position on the sky isn't changing as you drive along, but it can feel like the moon is following you.
Thanks for reading :)
Love,
Khushi