The moon shines because its surface reflects light from the sun. ... At any given point in the moon's trajectory around the Earth, only half of its surface is facing the sun, and therefore, only half of the moon is lit up. The other half of the surface faces away from the sun and is in shadow.

Why does the moon glow?

When the moon appears to glow, it's actually bouncing sunlight from the day side of the earth to the night side where you're viewing it. It also reflects light during the day, but the lighter sky and the sun's visibility makes its glow less of a contrast. ... White objects are great at bouncing light.

Why is moon light white?

When the Moon is low in the sky, you're seeing its light go through the most atmosphere. Light on the blue end of the spectrum is scattered away, while the red light isn't scattered. ... During the day, the Moon has to compete with sunlight, which is also being scattered by the atmosphere, so it looks white.