Squeaks and I love looking up at the sky! There are so many things to see, like clouds, airplanes, and the moon. One curious SciShow kid named Dausyn asked us a great question: Why can I see the moon in the daytime?
Great question, Dausyn! It might seem strange because we often think of the moon as something we only see at night. But that’s not true! The moon is always around. Sometimes it’s out at night, and sometimes it’s out during the day. In fact, you can often see it during parts of both the day and night!
Here’s why: both the Earth and the moon are moving! Our planet, Earth, spins around like a toy top. As it spins, one half faces the sun, and the other half faces away. The part facing the sun gets light, so it’s daytime there. The part facing away is dark, so it’s nighttime. But because Earth is always spinning, day and night keep changing.
Meanwhile, the moon is also moving. It’s traveling in a path around the Earth, which we call orbiting. It takes about a month for the moon to orbit the Earth once.
The most important part of why we can see the moon is the sun! The sun makes its own light, but the moon doesn’t. We can see the moon because the sun’s light shines on it. This light bounces off the moon and comes down to us on Earth.
Just like Earth, the sun only lights up one half of the moon at a time. As the Earth spins and the moon orbits, we see the lit-up half of the moon in different parts of the sky and at different times of the month.
Sometimes, the lit-up side of the moon faces the nighttime side of Earth, so people can see it at night. But as the moon moves in its orbit, more of its lighted half faces the daytime side of Earth. When that happens, we can see the moon during the day!
Since it takes about a month for the moon to orbit Earth, you’ll see the moon more during the day for part of the month and more at night for the other part.
You might notice that the moon doesn’t always look like a big circle. Sometimes it looks like a cookie with a bite taken out, a thin fingernail, or a big round plate. The moon isn’t really changing shape; it’s just moving around Earth, giving us different views of the side lit up by the sun.
If you love watching the sky like Dausyn, Squeaks, and me, keep an eye out for the moon during the day and at night. Ask yourself questions like: When do you see it during the day? When do you see it mostly at night? How does its shape seem to change during the month?
If you see the moon, take a picture and share it with us! We’d love to see it. Thanks for your awesome question, Dausyn! If you have any questions about stars, the ocean, robots, monkeys, or anything else, ask an adult to help you leave a comment or email us at [email protected].
