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Author
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Topic: Earthshine visibility and the near side of the moon
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Max Q
Member Posts: 399
From: Whyalla South Australia
Registered: Mar 2007
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posted 01-07-2014 07:41 AM
   
I am reading James Michener's "Space". The question was asked of Apollo 18 from Houston can you see any evidence of the previous landings. This led me to think if the far side of the Moon was fully lit how much visibility would there be from orbit? I am thinking reflected light from the Earth. |
LM1
Member Posts: 667
From: New York, NY
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-07-2014 10:49 AM
The far side of the moon was first viewed by human eyes during the Apollo 8 mission. Apparently, it is not totally dark and craters can be seen (more here).
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Max Q
Member Posts: 399
From: Whyalla South Australia
Registered: Mar 2007
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posted 01-07-2014 09:10 PM
Thanks for that but I was meaning to ask how much visibility would there be from orbit of the near side if from reflected earth shine. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 01-07-2014 09:21 PM
If I understand your question correctly, you're asking how visible the lunar surface would be from lunar orbit during a new moon as viewed from Earth. Correct? |
Max Q
Member Posts: 399
From: Whyalla South Australia
Registered: Mar 2007
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posted 01-07-2014 11:47 PM
Correct. |
LM1
Member Posts: 667
From: New York, NY
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-08-2014 08:55 AM
If you are speaking about the NEAR side of the moon (although you mentioned the FAR side), I don't believe that astronauts in orbit around the moon can see any objects from previous flights on the moon. Satellites in orbit around the moon have seen such objects because the satellites have high-resolution cameras. |
Max Q
Member Posts: 399
From: Whyalla South Australia
Registered: Mar 2007
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posted 01-08-2014 05:00 PM
I'm sorry for the confusion, I was attempting to ask how much effect reflected earthshine has on near side visibility (if the reflected light from Earth was the only light source available). What would an astronaut be able to see from lunar orbit? |
Skytrotter
Member Posts: 31
From: Indianapolis, IN USA
Registered: Sep 2013
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posted 01-09-2014 07:09 AM
From somewhere I remember that the light from a full earth as seen from the moon is about 16 times brighter than a full moon is as seen from the earth. If one flies in a plane at night during a full moon, it is quite easy to see details on the ground, so the surface of the near side of the moon should be quite visible under earth shine.An even more direct way to prove this is to go out and look at the moon the next time it's a thin crescent. It is easy to see the earth shine and with binoculars one can see a fair amount of lunar detail. So if someone were living on the moon's near side, it would never get very dark, either you would have bright sunlight or a fair amount of reflected sunlight from the earth. I guess it would only get really dark if you were on the lunar surface during a total lunar eclipse, it would appear as a total solar eclipse as seen from the lunar surface. Even then, the earth's atmosphere would refract a fair amount of the sunlight around the limb of the earth. If you have ever watched a total lunar eclipse, it usually has a dark red/orange color, so you could still see well enough to walk around on the lunar surface.
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Max Q
Member Posts: 399
From: Whyalla South Australia
Registered: Mar 2007
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posted 01-10-2014 04:01 AM
Awesome. Thank you Skytrotter. |
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