Why the Moon is White? (Know With images)

We see the Moon only in the night sky, but the Moon is always there in the sky. You might wonder why the Sun looks orange when it rises in the east or yellow when it sets in the west, but the Moon has different colors.

Today we learn why we see the Moon as white and not in any other color. Or is it that Moon is of some different color? Let’s find out what the actual color of the Moon is.

What Is The True Color Of The Moon?

The fact is that the Moon is entirely black. It has a similar amount of light as that coal. Instead, a full Moon is 400,000 lesser bright than the Sun. But the Moon, in reality, is not devoid of colors.

The Apollo astronauts had described the color of the Moon as brownish. A detailed study of the Moon tells that the dark areas in the

Moon display hints of brown and blue. On the other hand, the highland areas a very faint traces of pale blue, pink, and yellow.

These color differences are due to the varying amounts of metals like titanium or iron in the surface minerals. But the human eye cannot differentiate these color differences from such a great distance.

Why Do We See The Moon White?

During the day, when the Moon is up in the sky, the Moon reflects the Sun’s rays equally. This reflected light is thus not getting appropriately scattered. Thus, the Moon appears white during the daytime.

During the daytime, the Moon directly competes with the sunlight, and the color is scattered by the atmosphere leaving the Moon looking white.

What Is The Color Of The Moon At Sunset?

During sunset, when the Sun is below the horizon, the reflected light from the Moon must travel a much longer distance than during the daytime. When this happens, the reflected lights with very long spectrum wavelengths can travel longer distances after getting scattered.

These colors that appear after getting scattered are orange, red, and yellow. Thus during the sunset, the Moon appears yellowish.

How Does The Moon Look From Space?

The best and true colors of the Moon can be seen in the photographs taken from space. The color of the Moon seen from space is gray. This is because of the different types of minerals that are found on the surface. The minerals are mainly magnesium, silicon, oxygen, aluminum, and calcium.

The lighter rocks we see in the photographs are the plagioclase feldspar on the Moon’s surface; on the other hand, the darker stones are the pyroxene. There are also some green color rocks which are known as olivine.

The rocks on the Moon’s surface from space are primarily volcanic. These rocks are extruded during volcanic eruptions inside the Moon.

Ultimately, we learned that the Moon is white in the day sky but not during the sunset and night sky. Also, we learned how the Moon looks from space. To know about many other such interesting facts, you can read the other interesting facts available on our website.

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