why can you see half the moon?

Question

when the moon is in its cresent form you can sometimes see the other half why is that

when the moon is in cresent form one half is lit up the sun or woteva but the otherside isnt so why can u still see the out line of the moon

Answer 1

The light being reflected off of the Earth sometimes illuminates it.

Answer 2

For the same reason you can still see objects on earth when it is in the shadow of something else.

When there is a cresent moon, it is becuase the sun is hitting the moon perpendicular to where you are. Put an orange in front of you and shine a flashlight on it from the left. Only 1/4 (or less) of the orange facing you will be lit up. But the other 1/4 will still be slightly visible, since it is only in the shadow of the 'shining' side.

I probably explained things less than perfect, go to the website below for many great astronomical explanations.

Answer 3

Obviously the illuminated part is facing the sun. The part you can't see isn't.

However, if you look close enough, you will notice that the shadow of the Moon isn't completely dark. There is a very dim blueish color. This is a phenomenon known as Earth Glow. (It is light that is being reflected off of the Earth - that shines on the moon. It's the complete opposite of how when a full moon causes a bright glow on the Earth.)

Answer 4

It's caused by the Sun's light reflecting off of the Earth, lighting up the dark part of the crescent moon very slightly allowing you to see it. It's called Earthshine, and you can check it out here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthshine

BTW: Don't be fooled by the answers of the Earth casting a shadow on the moon because that's completely incorrect!

Answer 5

You can sometimes see the other haslf of the moon becaus it is not dark enough for that side of the moon to shine completely because a part of the sun is still shining on it. And, the Earth is moving, so we see different parts of the other half of the moon at different times. (obviously)

Answer 6

Ok, but there is more to this. Obviously you cannot see the half of the moon that is opposite to earth.

but... you could ask... the moon is rotating around its axis so the other side should eventually drift into our field of vision.

This is true, but the point is that in addition to rotating around its axis, the moon is slowly rotating around earth. So what?
It so happens (and I do not know if this is m)ere coincidence or a common occurence) that the time it takes to rotate around its axis is exactly the same it takes to complete a cycle around earth. Thus, it always shows the same face to us.

Try it. Hold a ball at arms length and combine the movements.
a) Rotate around its axis and b) rotate it around you. You will see that if, and only if these two movements take the same time to complete, you will be facing exactly the same half of the ball all the time.

Regards,
Francisco

Answer 7

Just depends on where the earth is in relation to the sun. The earth casts a shadow on the moon that's why you can only see part of it.

Answer 8

The bright light from the crescent moon travels back to earth and is reflected back to the moon. This light from multiple reflections is what dimly illuminates the darker part.

Answer 9

because the sun reflects light on the moon which brightens it, and sometimes it only gives off a little bit of light to certain parts of the moon.

Answer 10

That is the dark side of the moon. The sun isn't shining on it. Therefore, you can't see it.