Looking at moonlight
Boys and girls, come out to play, The moon is shining bright as day.
Mother Goose
Under a full moon there is plenty of light for a game of tag, for
hide-and-seek, or for an evening walk. It’s almost as easy to see on a
bright moonlit night as it is by day.
But the moon doesn’t really give off the bright, silvery light that we
see. The moon shines only because the sun shines on it. Some of the
sun’s light bounces off the moon and is reflected to the earth. So we
think of it as moonlight—even though what we see is really light from
the sun.
Some of the things we see—light bulbs, neon signs, traffic lights, and
even TV tubes—are like the sun. They give off light. But most of the
things we see are like the moon. They don’t give off light of their own.
Light from the sun, a lamp, or some other place shines on them. Then we
see them. They reflect the light into our eyes, and the reflected light
tells us what shapes, sizes, and colors the things are.
