Moonlight - wikipedia Moonlight For other uses, see Moonlight ( disambiguation ). A photograph taken by moonlight with an exposure time of ten minutes. Moonlight is the light that reaches Earth from the Moon, consisting mostly of sunlight, with some starlight and earthlight reflected from those portions of its surface which the Sun 's light strikes. Contents 1 Illumination 2 Folklore 3 Moonlight in art 4 See also 5 References 6 External links Illumination The intensity of moonlight varies greatly depending on its mood but even the full Moon typically provides only about 0.05 - 0.1 lux illumination. When the Moon is nearest to Earth and viewed at high altitude at tropical latitudes, the illuminance can reach 0.32 lux. The full Moon is about 1,000,000 times fainter than the Sun. The color of moonlight, particularly near full Moon, appears bluish to the human eye compared to most artificial light sources. This is because of the Purkinje effect - the light is not actually tinted blue, and although moonlight is often referred to as `` silvery '' it has no inherent silvery quality. The Moon 's albedo is 0.136, meaning only 13.6 % of sunlight incident on the Moon is reflected. Moonlight generally hampers astronomical viewing, so astronomers usually avoid making observations near full Moon. It takes approximately 1.26 seconds for the moonlight to hit the Earths surface. Moonlight over the VLT Moonlight illuminates a lake and surroundings on the Earth Moon colored red by an eclipse Left side lit by the Earth, other side by the Sun With the right manipulation, photographs of moonlight do n't appear that much different from sunlight. Folklore In folklore, moonlight sometimes has a harmful influence. For example, sleeping in the light of a full Moon on certain nights was said to transform a person into a werewolf. The light of the Moon was thought to worsen the symptoms of lunatics, and to sleep in moonlight could make one blind, or mad. Nyctalopia ( night blindness caused by a lack of vitamin A ) was thought to be caused by sleeping in moonlight in the tropics. `` Moon blindness '' is a name for equine recurrent uveitis. Moonlight is no longer thought of as the cause. In the 16th century, moonmilk, a soft white limestone precipitate found in caves, was thought to be caused by the rays of the moon. Moonlight in art Dovedale by Moonlight by Joseph Wright of Derby Seaport by Moonlight by Claude Joseph Vernet The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh Clair de lune sur le port de Boulogne - Seaport of Boulogne by Moonlight by Édouard Manet Visitor to a moonlit churchyard by Philip James de Loutherbourg See also Moon portal Airglow Daylight Diffuse reflection Earthlight ( astronomy ) Scotobiology Starlight References Jump up ^ Toomer, G.J. ( December 1964 ). `` Review : Ibn al - Haythams Weg zur Physik by Matthias Schramm ''. Isis. 55 ( 4 ) : 463 -- 465 ( 463 -- 4 ). doi : 10.1086 / 349914. ^ Jump up to : Kyba, Christopher CM ; Mohar, Andrej ; Posch, Thomas ( 1 February 2017 ). `` How bright is moonlight ? ''. Astronomy & Geophysics. 58 ( 1 ) : 1.31 -- 1.32. doi : 10.1093 / astrogeo / atx025. Retrieved 14 February 2017. Jump up ^ Matthews, Grant ( 2008 ). `` Celestial body irradiance determination from an underfilled satellite radiometer : application to albedo and thermal emission measurements of the Moon using CERES ''. Applied Optics. 47 ( 27 ) : 4981 -- 93. Bibcode : 2008ApOpt... 47.4981 M. PMID 18806861. doi : 10.1364 / AO. 47.004981. Jump up ^ A Dictionary of English folklore, Oxford University Press, 2000 Jump up ^ Gessner, Conrad ( 1555 ). Descriptio Montis Fracti sive Montis Pilati ( Description of Mount Fractus, or Mount Pilatus ) ( in Latin ). p. 54. Retrieved March 12, 2016. External links Look up moonlight in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Moonlight. Phases of the Moon at USNO Strange Moonlight at Science@NASA Moonlight Brightness at LunarLight Photography The Moon Physical features Face on the Moon Internal structure Gravity field Topography Magnetic field Atmosphere Ion tail Moonlight Lunar swirls Orbit Orbit of the Moon Phases Lunation Lunar libration Full Moon Lunar terminator Full moon cycle Earthshine Lunar eclipse Solar eclipse Solar eclipses on the Moon Tide Surface Selenography Near side Far side North pole South pole Lunar mare List Craters List Calderas Mountains Valleys Volcanic features South Pole -- Aitken basin Shackleton crater Water Soil Ray systems Peak of eternal light Crater of eternal darkness Space weathering Transient lunar phenomenon Lunar basalt 70017 Science Geology timescale Giant - impact hypothesis Hill sphere Moon rocks Lunar meteorites KREEP Late Heavy Bombardment Lunar laser ranging ALSEP Observation Origin Lunar sample displays Apollo 11 lunar sample display Apollo 17 lunar sample display Exploration Apollo program Exploration of the Moon Colonization of the Moon List of lunar probes List of missions to the Moon Moon landing conspiracy theories Related topics Lunar calendar Lunisolar calendar Craters named after people Double planet Lunar effect Man in the Moon Memorials on the Moon Month Lunar month Moon illusion Harvest moon Hunter 's moon Moon in art and literature Moon in mythology Hjúki and Bil ( Norse legends ) Moon is made of green cheese Natural satellite Solar System Supermoon Theia Tourism Phases / Occurrence Black moon Blue moon Lunar phase New moon Dark moon Wet moon Lilith ( hypothetical moon ) Moon portal Earth sciences portal Solar System portal Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Moonlight&oldid=800739577 '' Categories : Lunar observation Light Light sources Moon Hidden categories : CS1 Latin - language sources ( la ) Talk Contents About Wikipedia Bân - lâm - gú Brezhoneg Čeština Deutsch Eesti Español فارسی Français Gaeilge Galego 한국어 Latviešu Lëtzebuergesch മലയാളം Nederlands 日本 語 Português Svenska தமிழ் తెలుగు اردو Tiếng Việt 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 15 September 2017, at 11 : 08. 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Question: where does the light of moon come from
Answer: sunlight