A half a moon in day light

[kermit911]

I read the ? and the answers to "the moon in daylight" I have a ? about that. How would u explain a half a moon in the daylight? I thought the moon reflected light from the sun. If you can C the sun and the moon, wouldn't u get a full moon? Just woundering. Thanx

[brachiopod]

A true full moon can only occur at night, as the viewer would have to be between the sun and the moon in order for the sun to fully illuminate the surface facing the viewer.

As clanad stated in the previous question, "The greater the angle between the moon and the sun, the more of the moon is lighted and the easier it is to see". Thus, in the situation where (say) the sun is about to set and the moon has just risen, the angle between the two is large and therefore a large proportion of the moon will be illuminated.

Where the angle between is small, for example, just before a solar eclipse, no moon illumination is visible to a viewer on Earth. (If you think about this situation, the far side of the moon from Earth will be fully illuminated).

Add to this the fact that glare from the sun will cause any illumination appear to recede as the moon gets closer to the sun.

[kermit911]

Thanx a lot

[landie]

If, for example, the Sun is on your exteme right and the Moon on your exreme left, you would see only the RH side of the Moon.