See the picture.. A distinctive phenomenon that occurred on the moon in conjunction with the appearance of the crescent of the month of Shawwal

Weather of Arabia - The International Astronomy Center in the Emirates published on Tuesday evening, a picture of the crescent of the month of Shawwal 1443 AH. In conjunction with the occurrence of an astronomical phenomenon that makes the features of the moon's surface appear clearly to observers.

The center explained in a tweet on Twitter that the image of the crescent, which was taken in the city of Baalbek in Lebanon, clearly shows the rest of the features of the moon's surface. This is what is known as the phenomenon of “lighting the earth”.

Hilal Shawwal this evening, as it was filmed from the city of Baalbek in Lebanon.

The image shows the rest of the features of the moon’s surface in what is known as the phenomenon of “lighting the earth”, which is the reflection of the sun’s rays from the earth towards the moon, which illuminates the rest of its surface.

Photography by engineer Mohamed Ismail pic.twitter.com/nL0tT754hb

— International Astronomy Center (@AstronomyCenter) May 3, 2022

This phenomenon is caused by the reflection of the sun's rays from the Earth towards the moon, which illuminates the dark part of the moon, also known as the moon's gray glow.

What is the phenomenon of Earth illumination of the moon?

We all know that the moon is a dark planet, but we see it shining because of the sunlight reflected from it. The moon lights the sky of the Earth at night, but have you ever heard of Earth lighting the moon?

It is a phenomenon known as "Earth shine", and it can be seen with the naked eye (or cameras) when the sky is clear in the evening and away from light pollution, when we look at the crescent shortly after sunset or before sunrise, so that the dark disk of the moon appears It is so dimly lit that we can see the features of the moon clearly to an observer on Earth.

When does the phenomenon of Earth illumination occur to the moon?

The best times to witness the phenomenon of Earth illuminating the moon are before the new moon phase (the birth of the moon or the new moon) and a few days after it, immediately after sunset or before its sunrise. Scientists who study global warming have found that the phenomenon of Earth’s illumination of the moon is more intense in the months of April and May (therefore, the phenomenon was seen with the appearance of the Shawwal crescent at the beginning of May this year).

Additional Information: Planets Can Reflect Sunlight

The strength of the phenomenon of Earth illumination of the moon is also affected by the whiteness of the moon or the so-called "Moon's albedo." Albedo is a measure of the amount of sunlight that a celestial body can reflect, and it ranges from 0 (does not reflect any sunlight) to 1 (reflects all the sun's rays that reach it).

The average albedo of the Moon is 0.12, while the average albedo of the Earth is 0.3, and this means that the Moon reflects about 12% of the sunlight that reaches it, while the Earth reflects about 30% of the sunlight that hits its surface. Viewed from the moon, it is 100 times brighter than the full moon seen from Earth.

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