Cool Moon Facts by Whip

Real astronomy, with sources. Folklore & tradition.

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

Settings

Your location

Only used to work out rise and set times. It stays in this browser.

Moon orientation

Southern-hemisphere skies show the moon flipped. This follows your location automatically.

Saved facts

Everything saved here

This site keeps your location, your saved facts and your settings in this browser and nowhere else. Nothing is uploaded, and nothing here can be recovered once it is gone.

Cool Moon Facts · built by Whiptronics LLC

Gear that makes it better

Where these numbers come from