Hey Ray: Earthshine

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- In our solar system, we notice things because of the science of shine, and for this shine discussion, we are going to focus on the only star in our solar system: the sun! 

According to NASA, the sun is the center of the solar system and everything in the solar system revolves around it. That includes the planets, comets, asteroids and everything else!

The reason those things are visible is because of the sun's light -- more specifically, the sunlight bouncing off of them. That is why we can see our Moon and even the planets in the night sky. 

Even though the planets we can see look like stars, the sun's light bounces off of them, allowing them to be seen. 

 That brings us to earthshine!

Since the moon does not produce its own light, what light we see is just sunlight that bounces off the moon's surface, allowing us to see the moon from Earth. When a lot of light bounces off the moon's surface, it can even create shadows here.

Earth does the same thing!  Our planet reflects light, just like the moon. Sometimes, enough light is reflected from Earth to the moon, making the dark part of the moon's disk faintly visible. This is called earthshine. 

NASA says earthshine is usually brightest between April and June, but you can see it at other times of the year. Because of the position of their orbits, earthshine is easiest to see around the new moon phase.