does the earth shine like a star,if so does it have black patches like the moon?

Answer 1

The earth doesn't shine, nor does the moon. They both reflect light from the sun.

The dark areas on the moon are albedo areas of differing soil composition which reflect the sun's light differently. As the surface of the moon is very old rock and basically inactive (there is no volcanic activity on the moon), these areas remain fixed and static, giving the moon its patchy appearance.

The Earth has similar albedo areas but they are usually visible only in desert areas where they appear to be darker brown patches. Otherwise our surface is covered with water or vegetation, the remainder being broken terrain due to the volcanically active surface and plate tectonics which keep the earth's surface young.

Answer 2

Neither the Moon nor the Earth shine like stars do. Stars shine under their own fusion power, but all the Earth and the Moon do is reflect the light from the Sun (although the Earth does generate a little of its own light from fires, volcanoes, artificial sources and bioluminescence, it does not have anywhere near the output of the Sun).

That said, yes, from space you can see the Earth shining like the Moon. In fact, the earthlight seen on the Moon is quite a bit more than the moonlight seen on the Earth, because the distance is the same but the Earth has a cross-section 16 times as large as that of the Moon.

Answer 3

Shine Like The Moon

Answer 4

It shines just the same way as the moon does, but much more brightly as it is a lot bigger. Seen from the moon, the earth has phases, just like the moon does when seen from the earth. So, for someone living on the moon there would be a "full earth" and a "new earth" and even a "crescent earth". It will have light and dark patches like the moon, but of course, it is much more colourful.

Answer 5

The Moon & Sun are the brightest that WE here on Earth can see, The Earth Is as Bright if not Brighter than the Moon, From a distance the Earth is bright because the Sun's light reflects off of the atmosphere. Bright and Blue.

Answer 6

From the Moon, Earth looks something like the Moon looks to us, only bigger and more colorful. It does seem to glow in the sky, but of course that is only because it is brightly lit by the Sun, juts like the Moon is.

Answer 7

This is what the Earth looks like from space:

http://www.physorg.com/newman/gfx/news/earth12.jpg

It does not shine like a star, but it does reflect light from the nearest star (the Sun). There are no black patches, but there are variations in ocean color.

Answer 8

from a distance the earth does shine but it is the reflection of the suns light on the oceans that makes it brilliant

Answer 9

Go look at the photos of earth from the Apollo missions

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/skyimage_1957_5150771

Answer 10

Its not a star yet but is on its way to stardom. Keep sending those text messages next week on american idol!