# Earthshine

Also called: ashen light.

The faint glow on the dark part of a crescent Moon — sunlight reflected off the Earth.

From the Moon, a nearly full Earth hangs in the sky and lights up the lunar night. We see that light reflected back as a ghostly grey glow on the unlit part of a thin crescent, often called “the old Moon in the new Moon's arms”.

**Examples:** [moon](https://astropilot.space/object/moon.md)

**Related:** [Phase](https://astropilot.space/glossary/phase.md), [The Moon](https://astropilot.space/glossary/the-moon.md)

From the AstroPilot astronomy glossary: https://astropilot.space/glossary/earthshine