I Wonder Why – Why The Sun And Moon Shine?

What makes Sun and Moon Shine?

● The Sun shines with its energy. The light you see (and feel as heat) is given

off by the Sun’s surface, called the photosphere.

● Photosphere which is several hundred miles thick and composed of ever-

changing gases. Some of the energy the Sun produces must escape, or it would

build-up and explode.

● Whenever you see the Sun shining, you’ll know it’s just releasing excess energy

and giving us a little light and warmth in the bargain.

● Remember, you should never look directly at the Sun. The light is too bright for

our eyes to take.

● The Moon gives off no light of its own but reflects sunlight from its rocky surface.

What we call moonshine is sunshine reflected by the Moon.

● There’s also a third kind of shine? It’s called earthshine, meaning sunlight

reflected by the Earth. We have only one way to see it. That occurs because

some of the earthshine falls on the Moon and is reflected Earth again. By

In this dim light, we can sometimes see the outline of the whole moon behind the

The crescent of a new moon.