Earthshine visible if you look at moon

There’s a special time to view this in October and, no, you don’t have to travel into space to see it.

Just after 7pm on October 7 the crescent moon makes a beautiful sight in the western sky just after sunset.

The planet Venus is the other bright, star-like object dominating the sky and able to be spotted with ease. Venus is above the moon, higher in the sky.

Venus’s thick sulphuric cloud-covered surface reflects the sun’s light very well and dazzles us with its beauty here on Earth.

The moon also reflects the sun’s light and on the evening of October 7, this is seen as the brighter crescent section.

When gazing at the moon, you’ll notice the other section of our one natural satellite is softly lit by Earthshine.

Earthshine is the sun’s light reflecting off Earth and then onto the side of the moon not lit directly by sunlight.

The moon is the closest astronomical object to us here on Earth.

Light travels at about 300,000km/second.

The light reflected from the moon to Earth, or vice versa, only takes a couple of seconds to travel.

That’s a lot closer than the sun. Light emitted from the sun takes about eight minutes to travel to Earth.

For more stargazing tips, visit stargazersclubwa.com. au.