What is it called when you can see the moon during the day

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) -Although we are used to seeing the moon at night, sometimes we can also see the moon during the day.

This is because the moon is reflecting the sun’s light. When the moon is in a sweet spot in the sky, it reflects the light so much that it is brighter than the sky.

The moon is only visible when the sun is up in the sky at the same time. The sun has to be at a certain distance and not too close so that you can see it.

The moon is visible in daylight nearly every day, the exceptions are when it’s close to new moon, when the moon is too close to the sun to be visible or too close to a full moon (when it is only visible at night). The best times in the month to see the moon in daylight are close to first and last quarter, when the moon is 90 degrees away from the sun.

During the new moon, the moon is between the sun and the Earth and the side of the moon that is lit by the sun is facing away from our planet.This means that the moon is not visible because all of the sun’s light is getting reflected away from us.

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We get many comments from those who see the moon in the daytime. The comments tend to have an air of disbelief about them, typically going something like this:

I saw the moon in a blue sky. Why? How can this happen? I thought the moon was visible only at night!

In fact, the moon is up in the daytime as often as at night. It’s only the full moon that that rises in the east as the sun is setting in the west and reigns in the sky all night long. That means the moon is up all night long only one night each month. Otherwise, the moon rises and sets on its own schedule, having nothing to do with sunrise or sunset, and varying in a systematic way throughout each month as the moon pursues its monthly orbit around Earth. If you want to understand more about the moon’s rising and setting times, and subsequent phases, check out this post: Understanding moon phases

So when can you see the moon in the daytime? Basically, you need three things to see the daytime moon:

• Look within a week or so of the date of full moon.
• Before full moon, look for the daytime moon in the afternoon.
• After full moon, look for the daytime moon in the morning.
• Look up! The daytime moon is often up there, but it’s pale against the blue sky.

At this writing (January 29, 2013), the moon is appearing in a waning gibbous phase in the morning sky, and it is indeed far enough from the sun to be visible in daylight as the photo above shows. The last full moon was January 27, 2013 at 4:38 UTC. So if you’re reading this on January 29, you should be able to see a daytime moon in the west for another few days.

If you begin to look at the sky a lot, you’ll often see the daytime moon, too. Everyone loves to see the daytime moon. It’s beautiful and serene, floating against the blue sky. Once, a reader in Kansas City wrote in with the name children’s moon to describe a moon visible during the day. She said this name stemmed from the idea that children can’t stay up at night late enough to see the moon when it appears only in darkness.

That story prompted another reader to send in an alternate version for the origin of the name children’s moon. She wrote:

I heard a daytime moon was called a ‘children’s moon’ because their eyes were sharp enough to pick it out, where the old folks, with fading vision, could not tell it from the clouds.

Bottom line: You can see the moon during the day whenever it’s fairly large in phase and fairly far from the sun on the sky’s dome. So you need to know the date of full moon to know when to see a daytime moon. Learn the date of the next (or last) full moon, then start to look for the daytime moon about a week before full moon, in the afternoon sky. After full moon, look again for a week or so, this time in the morning sky. Most important criterion: look up! If you do, you’ll often see the moon in the day.

Understanding moon phases

Deborah Byrd

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About the Author:

Deborah Byrd created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Today, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of this website. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.

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