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Grades K–2 · Earth & Space

How can the Moon be visible during the day?

A pale Moon can hang over a playground while the Sun is shining. It has not forgotten to go to bed. The Moon travels around Earth, and sometimes it is in the part of the sky we can see during the day.

The Moon makes no light of its own. Sunlight falls on its rocky surface, and some of that light bounces toward our eyes. That is how we see it at night. The same thing can happen in daylight.

The daytime sky is bright too, so the Moon can look faint. Clouds may hide it. At other times, the Moon is below the horizon: the edge where land seems to meet sky. We cannot see through Earth to find it there.

Follow the light from Sun to Moon to observer, then look at the daytime sky the observer can see.

Moonlight can reach a daytime observerIn the upper diagram, sunlight travels from the left to both Earth and Moon. An observer on the illuminated side of Earth receives some reflected light from the Moon. The lower drawing is a possible daytime view with the Moon above the horizon. Distances and sizes are not to scale.The Moon shares our daySunEarthSunlightMoonReflectedlightA daytime observer can seepart of the sunlit Moon.Daytime skyMoonAbove the horizon
Sunlight reaches the Moon and some reflected light reaches an observer on Earth's daylight side. The sky view below shows how a pale Moon can appear above the horizon during the day.

Seeing the Sun and Moon in one sky reminds us that day and night belong to our view from Earth. The Moon keeps traveling whether our neighborhood is bright or dark. A daytime Moon is part of that ordinary journey.

About this explanation

The Sun, Earth and Moon are drawn much closer together than they really are so their connection fits in one picture.

Starting knowledge: Recognize the Moon, sunlight and the line where the sky meets the ground.

Sources

  • NASA — Why Can You See the Moon During the Day?
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