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Why does the Moon shine in the night sky?
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Moon
(Left) Near side of Earth's Moon, photographed by the Galileo spacecraft on its way to Jupiter. (Right) Far side of the Moon with some of the near side visible (upper right), photographed by the Apollo 16 spacecraft.
The Moon does not produce its own light; rather, it shines because its surface reflects sunlight. As the Moon orbits Earth, varying amounts of its sunlit side are visible to observers on our planet, which creates the different lunar phases.1
Additionally, the Moon can be faintly illuminated by earthshine, which is sunlight reflected from Earth onto the lunar surface. This phenomenon is most noticeable during the days surrounding a new moon, when the Earth appears nearly full from the perspective of the Moon, reflecting significant light back toward it.21