Fact #006
Geology
The Moon is not white. It reflects about 12% of the light that hits it, which makes it roughly as dark as worn asphalt.
It looks brilliant because it's a grey object against a black sky, lit by an unfiltered Sun. Photograph the Moon and the Earth in one frame and the Moon reads as a dull charcoal. Astronauts described the surface as the colour of a used charcoal grill.
Source: NASA Moon facts (opens in a new tab) · checked Aug 2026
🔮 The folklore version: Moon water