Unlike the sun, the moon does not generate its own light. It shines because sunlight falls on its surface. It is similar to how earth gets its light from the sun.

As a planet, the earth does not have its own light source. It does not even need it, as the sun is enough to light up our world.

Similarly, the moon gets the light from the sun and appears illuminated and glowy in our sky.

Both earth and moon would be so bleak without the sun.

The fact that the moon only reflects 3-12 percent of the light that strikes it can be used to estimate the solidity of sunlight. Despite that, the moon shines so brightly at times.

The fun fact is the way we perceive moonlight in our sky depends on the moon's orbit around the earth.

There are times when it seems too bright. And there are other times when it seems too dim.

Maybe you will say, well, it's because of the quarter moon and full moon saga.

Yes, but here is the thing. Every 29-30 days, the moon completes one orbit around earth. And during this cycle, the sun illuminates the moon from different angles.

Where does the moon get its light?

Moon's movement around the earth and the earth's movement around the sun defines the levels of light the moon generates. On this basis, we refer to it as a full, new, or quarter moon.

A new moon is not even visible from our perspective. It is when the moon is between the sun and the earth. During this time, the side of the moon receiving light from the sun is facing away from our planet. Hence, we see no traces of moonlight in the sky.

On the other hand, the moon is fully illuminated when it is 180 degrees away from the sun. At this point, it is clearly visible from our view.

In a nutshell, moonlight is the glow emitted by the sun.