The moon: Nature's ultimate night light

THE ULTIMATE NIGHT LIGHT by Gary S. Gerrone Sprinkled throughout old poems and children's stories are written images of people walking at night by the light of the moon. Perhaps because of my suburban upbringing, I didn't believe this silly notion. Sure, the romantic in me wanted to believe it, but seriously, "The moon just ain't that bright." At least, that's what my younger self would have said. If this were still my belief this morning, it would have been erased from my memory as if someone flashed me with a Men In Black Neuralizer*. In the clear pre-dawn, what appeared to be a blueish-white light streamed past the side of my house and across my backyard. It reminded me of modern high beams from a very distant car. Hmmm … no cars around. Perhaps it was the dying light of the streetlight on my tree lawn. Nope, it was burning its obnoxious bright orange and my house blocked its light from reaching my backyard. With the intrepid courage of Neil Armstrong, I opened the front door and took one small step, and then I looked up. It was the moon. The freakin' bright full moon. The freakin' bright full Worm Moon! The freakin' bright full Worm Moon was illuminating my back yard! Not only could one easily walk by the light of the moon, I am certain that those of fair skin might suffer a burn! As I love to do, I need to put some things in perspective. First, the moon really doesn't have any light. It just reflects sunlight. And as bright as a full moon can be on a clear night, it only reflects about 7 percent of the sunlight that hits it. This morning the moon was almost too bright to look at (giving credence, perchance, to why someone sang "I wear my sunglasses at night.") Imagine then, that the sun is some 14 times brighter. While assumed common knowledge tells us that light-colored things reflect light and dark things absorb light, then the exceptionally light gray of the moon seems like it should be reflecting more light. Perhaps it does, its rough surface just reflects it in directions other than toward the Earth. Here's what is weird though, since the moon is so light in color, its light surface should be really reflecting sunlight and the temperature should be really cool. Well, if you can stick your hand in a pot of boiling water and call that cool, then maybe a vacation to the beautiful and desolate sunny side of the moon is for you. (Actually, it is a bit warmer than boiling water, so don't be too hasty in flashing plastic to pay for your trip.) If you find the TV show "Life Below Zero" a bit tepid, then you might consider visiting the unsunny side of the moon. It bottoms out somewhere around -250 degrees Fahrenheit. With full intent to employ a pun, don't expect a rousing nightlife to take your breath away since the moon has no atmosphere. A full moon happens when the sun and the moon are in opposition. Another way to put this, full moons happen when the setting and rising of the sun and the moon are opposite. So, last night when the sun set, the moon rose. This morning, when the sun rose, the moon set. This orientation gives us earthlings a view of a fully-illuminated moon. At other times during the moon's 28ish day cycle, various portions of the fully illuminated side of the moon face away from us. The New Moon is a period when the sun and the moon are pretty much next to each other and the illuminated side of the moon fully faces away from us. Thus, we can't really see the moon, or we just see the dark side of the moon, which is too dark to see. Or, better yet, we just don't see the moon. (Please send all literary complaints to the Department of Repetitious Redundancy Department.) Sometimes, the moon and the sun cross each other, and sometimes the Earth passes between the two. These are the eclipses -- solar and lunar, respectively. Please mark your calendar for April 8, 2024. That's the date of the next, highly viewable solar eclipse. As coincidence would have it, the very center of the path of totality of the eclipse is estimate to pass directly through my backyard. Yes, the very place marked with moon light this morning. For many, the moon passes through our nights and days with little notice. It waxes and wanes and reflects upon us all the sunlight it can. It's warty and pocked, and subtly colored in tones hard to capture. It moves across our sky at a speed that is subtly seductive. It begs you to look. But do you? An argument could be made that once you have seen the moon, you have seen the moon. Why would anyone want to see it again? The same argument could be made about seeing the ocean or looking at a mountain. I don't know about you, but I can't wait to see the ocean again. I long to see mountains. And I look at the moon every chance I get. OK, that's a little sappy and preachy. So, I will dilute it by mentioning Cat Stevens' song Moonshadow. I mean, this was the Worm Moon, so why not end its praise with an earworm? *Which, by the way, Walmart lists for $94.49 on their web store. The description negates all doubt by calling it a toy. The package, however, states "Try Me!" Try me…and then what? For $94.49 I'm not trying it…unless they also sell an over-priced pair of protective Foster Grants!