Can you see the sun from the moon?

[Chris71]

I thought I'd complete the surfeit of space posts today with a question that popped into my head the other night: Can you ever see the sun from the surface of the moon?

I don't know if the respective orbits allow this or not, I just realised I'd never seen a photo of 'sun rise' on the moon and assumed it never happened?

[esselte]

Being as how the moon only shines because it reflects the sun's rays then I would say it's a given that you can....

[JulianHJ]

[AJI]

erm..yes you can see it

what do you think allows the moon to reflect light back to earth?

[Quaint]

I've never seen a picture of the sun taken from the moon but the ample quantities of direct sunlight seen in most of the photos taken on the surface desmonstrate that the sun is indeed visible. After all, if the sun's light didn't hit the Moon, we wouldn't be able to see it at all. And since light travels in straight (ish) lines through space it stands to reason the sun must be visible from the Moon, as long as you're not standing on a dark bit.

[mulletmark]

Only if you're standing on the sunny side.

HTH

[Muntu]

COAFB

[marshalla]

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/07dec_moon...

[sleep envy]

Chris71 said:

I thought I'd complete the surfeit of space posts today with a question that popped into my head the other night: Can you ever see the sun from the surface of the moon?

I don't know if the respective orbits allow this or not, I just realised I'd never seen a photo of 'sun rise' on the moon and assumed it never happened?

no, never

the only reason we get full moons is there's a bloke in the arctic with a 1 billion candle torch shining light on the moon

old and new moons are when the batteries runn out

[Parrot of Doom]

Chris71 said:

I thought I'd complete the surfeit of space posts today with a question that popped into my head the other night: Can you ever see the sun from the surface of the moon?

I don't know if the respective orbits allow this or not, I just realised I'd never seen a photo of 'sun rise' on the moon and assumed it never happened?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J---aiyznGQ

Edited by Parrot of Doom on Thursday 16th July 12:26

[Chris71]

Step away from the intellectual snobbery... I just find it strange that you see shots of the earth taken from the moon, but I've never seen one showing the sun itself. Yes, there's ambient light and while that does travel in straight lines it reflects and refracts too.

Not for a minute suggesting the sun wouldn't be visible from the moon's surface, just quite curious to see a photograph of it.

[shakotan]

Chris71 said:

Not for a minute suggesting the sun wouldn't be visible from the moon's surface, just quite curious to see a photograph of it.

Chris71 said:

Can you ever see the sun from the surface of the moon?

You appear confused, may I suggest your step away from the computer in case you hurt yourself...

[Don]

Not quite the right photograph but...



One of the most awesome and beautiful photographs ever taken.

[rich1231]

Chris71 said:

Step away from the intellectual snobbery... I just find it strange that you see shots of the earth taken from the moon, but I've never seen one showing the sun itself. Yes, there's ambient light and while that does travel in straight lines it reflects and refracts too.

Not for a minute suggesting the sun wouldn't be visible from the moon's surface, just quite curious to see a photograph of it.

Snobbery?

Or just generally stunned that someone so stupid can cope with everyday life.

[Galileo]

Because the moon has no atmosphere to scatter the sunlight, and difuse the brightness, the suns rays are unhindered and very powerful and would fry the camera and the eyes of the person taking the picture.

Edited by Galileo on Thursday 16th July 12:38

[john_p]

rich1231 said:

Chris71 said:

Step away from the intellectual snobbery... I just find it strange that you see shots of the earth taken from the moon, but I've never seen one showing the sun itself. Yes, there's ambient light and while that does travel in straight lines it reflects and refracts too.

Not for a minute suggesting the sun wouldn't be visible from the moon's surface, just quite curious to see a photograph of it.

Snobbery?

Or just generally stunned that someone so stupid can cope with everyday life.

harsh, but OP, you do know that the moon rotates around the earth, and the earth rotates around the sun, don't you?

[Don]

Galileo said:

Because the moon has no atmosphere to scatter the sunlight, and difuse the brightness, the suns rays are unhindered and very powerful and would fry the camera and the eyes of the person taking the picture.

Yes. I suspect the main reason why the sun doesn't appear much in photographs taken from the surface of the moon is photographic. i.e. exposing for the sun would render the rest of the frame black and exposing for the lunar surface would result in the sun ruining the image...

[Silverbullet767]

[Stablelad]

Silverbullet767 said:

[Steve748]

This must rate as the most stupid question ever asked? Did you miss out school when you were growing up?