A passenger plane cruises at 40,000 feet (12,000 meters), passing in front of the half moon.

A passenger plane cruises at 40,000 feet (12,000 meters), passing in front of the half moon. (Image credit: Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

People have been fascinated by the moon in the night sky for thousands of years. The moon can be seen during daylight.

The moon is brighter during the day because it is reflecting light from the sun, and it is also brighter at night because it is close to Earth. The moon is the most visible object in the sky.

The moon can't be seen during the day. The atmosphere of Earth and the cycle of our natural satellite are to blame. The moon would be visible from Earth all the time without an atmosphere. When the moon moves between Earth and the sun, the illuminated side faces away from us and the dark side faces Earth, making it invisible to skywatchers.

Broad daylight

Nitrogen and oxygen scatter light that has a short wavelength. Earth has a blue sky because of this scattering.

RECOMMENDED VIDEOS FOR YOU...

The moon has to overcome the scattered light from the sun in order to be visible during the day. For two or three days around the new moon, it is invisible to the naked eye because the sun's light is overshadowed by the moon. The moon's relative proximity to Earth means that the light it reflects appears brighter to us than other light sources.

The'man in the moon' and how it formed are related.

Illustration of the lunar phases

An illustration of the different lunar phases (Image credit: Shutterstock)

The stars that are visible from Earth are a million billion times dimmer than the light from the sun. The moon's reflected light doesn't always match the sun's scattered light in the sky.

Calculating the apparent brightness of objects in the sky is done by measuring the amount of light they emit across an area of the night sky. The moon's surface brightness is greater than the sky's surface brightness, so we can see it in the daytime.

The moon's visibility is influenced by a number of factors, including the seasons, the current phase of the moon and how clear the sky is.

The moon can be seen for 25 days out of the month. There are five days around the new moon. It is not possible to see it near the sun. It is only visible at night when the moon is setting at sunrise. A full moon is the only day that it isn't in the sky. The only day where it's not up there at the same time is when the sun is setting and the moon is rising.

Although the moon is above the horizon for 12 hours a day, it may not coincide with daylight hours. There is less time for the moon to be seen during the day when the days are shorter.

One week after the new moon and one week after the full moon are the best times to view the moon in daylight. Our natural satellite can be seen in the afternoon in the eastern sky. It will be seen in the morning in the third quarter. The moon can be seen with the sun in the sky for an average of five to six hours a day.

Earthshine happens when the moon is visible. The dark part of the moon can be seen during the crescent phase, which is when the moon is closest to the sun. There is a dark part of the moon. Three or four days after the new moon is the best time to see this phenomenon.

There are websites that show when the moon rises and sets.