So,which is it?

[Diane Amberg]

I was reading an interesting comment from some folks about a controversy that happened in Waco Texas back in Feb.It had to do with the light from the moon. So which it, light emitting from it's own source, or light reflecting from the sun?  What do you think and why? 

[larryJ]

I was always taught that the moon is a cold object and therefore cannot emit light.  The "light" from the moon is reflection of sunshine.  Hence, the different phases of the moon as it orbits the earth.  The position of the moon in relation to the Earth and Sun creates a different amount of moon that can be seen reflecting light from the sun.

Larryj

[Diane Amberg]

That's what I learned too, but apparently some people insist it has it's own changing light source.I can't imagine how though.

[Wilma]

If you spend enough time in Jar's bunker, you would be able to see it.

[Diane Amberg]

Oh my...from the "moonshine" fumes?   Good one Wilma!

[Warph]

Hmmmm.... wonder what Wilma is doing in Jars Bunker

Versions - Okay... to answer your question:

The JarHead Version:  The Moon   It is a Spaceship for crying out loud!

The Bible Version:  
Genesis 1: 16 - "And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night.."

Science Version:
Albedo - Albedo ( / æ l ˈ b iː d oʊ /), or reflection coefficient, derived from Latin albedo "whiteness" (or reflected sunlight), in turn from albus "white", is the diffuse reflectivity or reflecting power of a surface. It is defined as the ratio of reflected radiation from the surface to incident radiation upon it. Being a dimensionless fraction, it may also be expressed as a percentage, and is measured on a scale from zero for no reflecting power of a perfectly black surface, to 1 for perfect reflection of a white surface.
http://www.onlinecharging.com/albedo/encyclopedia.htm#Small-scale_effects

Warph's Version:
CK Albedo... this is why you can look at the moon or our second planet to the sun, Venus and see them clearly because of their 'Albedo' ... Our Moon is very large, very close to the Sun, and very close to us, and appears staggeringly bright... blindingly so through my telescope when full, which will almost blind me... but despite an albedo varying around 12% but never higher than 18% (on the NASA scale) Venus is very bright because of its large relative size, its high albedo of 70%, and its closeness to the Sun... but of course its distance from Earth varies.  Venus is actually brighter in its crescent phase because it is then close and then large.  Right now Venus is in its the "half" phase.  I see alot of red, some green in Venus as I look at it this month.... both Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, and the dwarf planet Eris have albedos of over 95% according to scale.  Enceladus is snowy white and reflects 99% of the light that hits it!  But since it is very far from the Sun, and very small, and very far from us, it doesn't even compare in brightness to the Moon.

..Warph, Star Gazer