earthshine

Here's my drawing of the last night's sky smiley.



Uhh... the real thing was actually more spectacular than this... The sky being pitch black. And the planets boldly unblinking. And the earthshine clearly visible.

What is earthshine?

This is a smoky glow on the dark portion of the crescent Moon. It is caused by sunlight that reflects off the Earth onto the Moon's night side. Under the earthshine, the Moon's outline and its dark features can be seen, even though only a thin crescent is bright. We see the Moon because of reflected sunlight (the Moon does not generate its own light). At times, however, the dark part of the Moon glows.

- from The Moon and Earthshine