If you covered the surface of the moon with mirrors..
Moderator: Jon O'Neill
- Jon O'Neill
- Ginger Ninja
- Posts: 4549
- Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2008 12:45 am
- Location: London, UK
If you covered the surface of the moon with mirrors..
Would it be daylight all the time on Earth?
- John Bosley
- Enthusiast
- Posts: 380
- Joined: Fri Oct 17, 2008 3:52 pm
- Location: Huddersfield
- Andy Wilson
- Kiloposter
- Posts: 1181
- Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2009 3:09 pm
Re: If you covered the surface of the moon with mirrors..
That was a very bright thought though.
- Jon O'Neill
- Ginger Ninja
- Posts: 4549
- Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2008 12:45 am
- Location: London, UK
Re: If you covered the surface of the moon with mirrors..
If not, why not?
- Matt Morrison
- Post-apocalypse
- Posts: 7822
- Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2008 2:27 pm
- Location: London
- Contact:
Re: If you covered the surface of the moon with mirrors..
They would float off. You're not allowed to take sellotape or glue to the moon either.
- Rosemary Roberts
- Devotee
- Posts: 555
- Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 5:36 pm
Re: If you covered the surface of the moon with mirrors..
The moon isn't in the sky all the time. If you managed to really light up the moon you would be in a "Nightfall" situation.Jon O'Neill wrote:If not, why not?
-
- Kiloposter
- Posts: 1783
- Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2010 3:21 pm
- Location: Dublin
Re: If you covered the surface of the moon with mirrors..
I think the moon is as mirror like as it can get anyway.
-
- Postmaster General
- Posts: 3661
- Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 6:18 pm
Re: If you covered the surface of the moon with mirrors..
I wish more exam questions lower down the school started with things like this:
Q. 'Jon says that "if you covered the moon with mirrors it would be daylight all of the time". Explain why Jon is wrong.' (8)
Q. 'Jon says that "if you covered the moon with mirrors it would be daylight all of the time". Explain why Jon is wrong.' (8)
- Phil Reynolds
- Postmaster General
- Posts: 3329
- Joined: Fri Oct 31, 2008 3:43 pm
- Location: Leamington Spa, UK
Re: If you covered the surface of the moon with mirrors..
For starters, what happens when the moon is between the sun and the earth?Jon O'Neill wrote:If not, why not?
-
- Post-apocalypse
- Posts: 13292
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:37 pm
Re: If you covered the surface of the moon with mirrors..
Start off by telling us why it should.Jon O'Neill wrote:If not, why not?
- Graeme Cole
- Series 65 Champion
- Posts: 2041
- Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2010 9:59 pm
Re: If you covered the surface of the moon with mirrors..
Nope. As Rosemary said the moon isn't always above the horizon. Also consider the phases of the moon: if it's a new moon then it's the far side of the moon that's illuminated, which is no use to an observer on earth even if the moon were a perfect mirror.Jon O'Neill wrote:Would it be daylight all the time on Earth?
Incidentally, the moon's reflectivity (or albedo) is actually quite low, but it does have the property that it most of the light it reflects is reflected back in the direction it came from. This is why the moon looks disproportionately brighter when it's a full moon than when it's almost full.
(Alternatively, you could answer the question with "it is daylight all the time on earth, just not in the same place".)
-
- Kiloposter
- Posts: 1267
- Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:57 pm
Re: If you covered the surface of the moon with mirrors..
Surely what would be reflected to earth is a distorted reflection of the whole sky. All you'd see is a small dot of light from the one point on the moon that reflects the sun our way.
-
- Acolyte
- Posts: 212
- Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2009 11:37 am
Re: If you covered the surface of the moon with mirrors..
By some quick and probably flawed calculations, if the moon were a spherical mirror the amount of light reflected to us even at full moon would be less than 1/40000 of the amount we receive directly from the sun in daylight. Due to angles and stuff. You'd do much better doing what the Russians tried and putting large mirrors in earth orbit.
- Jon O'Neill
- Ginger Ninja
- Posts: 4549
- Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2008 12:45 am
- Location: London, UK
Re: If you covered the surface of the moon with mirrors..
Cool.Matthew Tassier wrote:By some quick and probably flawed calculations, if the moon were a spherical mirror the amount of light reflected to us even at full moon would be less than 1/40000 of the amount we receive directly from the sun in daylight. Due to angles and stuff. You'd do much better doing what the Russians tried and putting large mirrors in earth orbit.
Thanks everyone.