The color of moonlight, particularly around full moon, appears bluish to the human eye compared to other, brighter light sources due to the Purkinje effect. The blue or silver appearance of the light is an illusion.
The Moon's bond albedo averages 0.136,[4] meaning only 13.6% of incident sunlight is reflected from the lunar surface. Moonlight takes approximately 1.26 seconds to reach Earth's surface. Scattered in Earth's atmosphere, moonlight generally increases the brightness of the night sky, reducing contrast between dimmer stars and the background. For this reason, many astronomers usually avoid observing sessions around a full moon.
Earthlight (indirect sunlight reflected from Earth) illuminates the dim side of the Moon, while direct sunlight the bright side.
With manual exposure settings, photographs taken in moonlight do not appear much different from those taken in daylight.
Folklore
In folklore, moonlight sometimes has a harmful influence. For example, sleeping in the light of a full Moon on certain nights was said to transform a person into a werewolf. The light of the Moon was thought to worsen the symptoms of lunatics, and to sleep in moonlight could make one blind, or mad.[5]Nyctalopia (night blindness caused by a lack of vitamin A) was thought to be caused by sleeping in moonlight in the tropics.
"Moon blindness" is a name for equine recurrent uveitis. Moonlight is no longer thought of as the cause.
In the 16th century, moonmilk, a soft white limestone precipitate found in caves, was thought to be caused by the rays of the Moon.[6]
In 2008 Katie Paterson produced an artwork titled Light bulb to Simulate Moonlight.[7] It consists of 289 lightbulbs coated to produce a similar spectrum to the light of the full Moon.[7]
^Toomer, G. J. (December 1964). "Review: Ibn al-Haythams Weg ur Physik by Matthias Schramm". Isis. 55 (4): 463–465 [463–4]. doi:10.1086/349914.
^Fragment in Plutarch De facie in orbe lunae, 929b, as quoted in "The Riverside Dictionary of Biography" (2005), p. 23
^ abKyba, Christopher C M; Mohar, Andrej; Posch, Thomas (1 February 2017). "How bright is moonlight?". Astronomy & Geophysics. 58 (1): 1.31–32. doi:10.1093/astrogeo/atx025. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
^A Dictionary of English Folklore, Oxford University Press, 2000
^Gessner, Conrad (1555). Descriptio Montis Fracti sive Montis Pilati [Description of Mount Fractus, or Mount Pilatus] (in Latin). p. 54. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
^ ab"Katie Paterson Light bulb to Simulate Moonlight". guggenheim.org. Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
External links
Look up moonlight in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
moonlight, other, uses, disambiguation, consists, mostly, sunlight, with, little, earthlight, reflected, from, parts, moon, surface, where, light, strikes, illuminates, boat, club, holma, sweden, contents, history, illumination, gallery, folklore, also, refere. For other uses see Moonlight disambiguation Moonlight consists of mostly sunlight with little earthlight reflected from the parts of the Moon s surface where the Sun s light strikes 1 Moonlight illuminates a boat club in Holma Sweden Contents 1 History 2 Illumination 3 Gallery 4 Folklore 5 Art 6 See also 7 References 8 External linksHistory EditThe ancient Greek philosopher Anaxagoras was aware that the sun provides the moon with its brightness 2 Illumination EditThe intensity of moonlight varies greatly depending on the lunar phase but even the full moon typically provides only about 0 05 0 1 lux illumination 3 When a full Moon around perigee a supermoon is viewed around upper culmination from the tropics the illuminance can reach up to 0 32 lux 3 From Earth the apparent magnitude of the full Moon is only about 1 380 000 that of the Sun citation needed The color of moonlight particularly around full moon appears bluish to the human eye compared to other brighter light sources due to the Purkinje effect The blue or silver appearance of the light is an illusion The Moon s bond albedo averages 0 136 4 meaning only 13 6 of incident sunlight is reflected from the lunar surface Moonlight takes approximately 1 26 seconds to reach Earth s surface Scattered in Earth s atmosphere moonlight generally increases the brightness of the night sky reducing contrast between dimmer stars and the background For this reason many astronomers usually avoid observing sessions around a full moon Gallery Edit Moonlight onto Earth s cloud cover from space Moonlight shines on the Very Large Telescope Moonlight illuminates a lake and surroundings During a lunar eclipse the Moon is colored red by indirect sunlight which Earth s atmosphere has scattered and refracted Earthlight indirect sunlight reflected from Earth illuminates the dim side of the Moon while direct sunlight the bright side With manual exposure settings photographs taken in moonlight do not appear much different from those taken in daylight Folklore EditIn folklore moonlight sometimes has a harmful influence For example sleeping in the light of a full Moon on certain nights was said to transform a person into a werewolf The light of the Moon was thought to worsen the symptoms of lunatics and to sleep in moonlight could make one blind or mad 5 Nyctalopia night blindness caused by a lack of vitamin A was thought to be caused by sleeping in moonlight in the tropics Moon blindness is a name for equine recurrent uveitis Moonlight is no longer thought of as the cause In the 16th century moonmilk a soft white limestone precipitate found in caves was thought to be caused by the rays of the Moon 6 Art Edit Seaport by Moonlight 1771 by Claude Joseph Vernet Dovedale by Moonlight 1784 by Joseph Wright of Derby A Philosopher in a Moonlit Churchyard 1790 by Philip James de Loutherbourg The Port of Boulogne by Moonlight 1869 by Edouard Manet The Starry Night 1889 by Vincent van Gogh Halny 1895 by Stanislaw WitkiewiczIn 2008 Katie Paterson produced an artwork titled Light bulb to Simulate Moonlight 7 It consists of 289 lightbulbs coated to produce a similar spectrum to the light of the full Moon 7 See also Edit Solar System portalAirglow Daylight Diffuse reflection Earthlight astronomy Lunar effect Scotobiology Starlight Night in paintings Western art Night in paintings Eastern art References Edit Toomer G J December 1964 Review Ibn al Haythams Weg ur Physik by Matthias Schramm Isis 55 4 463 465 463 4 doi 10 1086 349914 Fragment in Plutarch De facie in orbe lunae 929b as quoted in The Riverside Dictionary of Biography 2005 p 23 a b Kyba Christopher C M Mohar Andrej Posch Thomas 1 February 2017 How bright is moonlight Astronomy amp Geophysics 58 1 1 31 32 doi 10 1093 astrogeo atx025 Retrieved 14 February 2017 Matthews Grant 2008 Celestial body irradiance determination from an underfilled satellite radiometer application to albedo and thermal emission measurements of the Moon using CERES Applied Optics 47 27 4981 93 Bibcode 2008ApOpt 47 4981M doi 10 1364 AO 47 004981 PMID 18806861 A Dictionary of English Folklore Oxford University Press 2000 Gessner Conrad 1555 Descriptio Montis Fracti sive Montis Pilati Description of Mount Fractus or Mount Pilatus in Latin p 54 Retrieved March 12 2016 a b Katie Paterson Light bulb to Simulate Moonlight guggenheim org Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation Retrieved 29 January 2019 External links Edit Look up moonlight in Wiktionary the free dictionary Wikimedia Commons has media related to Moonlight Phases of the Moon Archived 2011 07 09 at the Wayback Machine at USNO Strange Moonlight at Science NASA Moonlight Brightness at LunarLight Photography Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Moonlight amp oldid 1146511256, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
