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Inspired by this question. I am curious whether earth, besides being nearly fixed on one place on the moon's sky, is it visible during the day-time on moon too?

My understanding is that earth should be visible as moon has no atmosphere. Also, if the NASA didn't edit the following photograph, it suggests that the day-time sky of moon is all black and earth should be visible in it.

enter image description here

I think, Stellarium don't take into account the atmosphere once you are on other planet.

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  • $\begingroup$ If the Moon is visible (in most phases) from Earth at mean sea level in a broad daylight, then which doubt could exist on visibility of Earth from there? Not only atmosphere will be removed as a hindrance, but Earth is also much brighter. $\endgroup$
    – Incnis Mrsi
    Feb 18, 2021 at 15:56

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Yes, the Earth would be visible even during day on the Moon. Without a (significant) atmosphere diffusing light, the day sky would be much like the night sky on Earth. If you were to look straight up such that you couldn't see the ground, you may not even notice that it was day at all (save for the Sun shining down at you). This could actually be rather hazardous as the Sun would be more intense, but your eyes may not be adjusted to high light like they are on bright Earth days.

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  • $\begingroup$ So, you mean that other than being totally dark (for human eye) sky the ground is too much bright as compared to earth? Or you mean that contrast between sky and ground is too high? $\endgroup$
    – kaka
    Dec 7, 2014 at 5:03
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    $\begingroup$ There will be no light in the atmosphere, like the blue light of day or the colors of dusk or sunset. We can't see many objects during the day on Earth because of the Sun's light scattering in our atmosphere and coming at us from every direction. On the moon it won't scatter, so objects will be lit by the Sun, but you can see clearly beyond the Moon. The Earth will be clearly visible - after all the Moon is also visible on clear Earth days despite all the atmosphere in the way. $\endgroup$
    – Mitch Goshorn
    Dec 7, 2014 at 5:07
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    $\begingroup$ As for the ground, it is a bit hard to quantify. The Moon's surface is actually quite dark (low albedo), but the environment has very high contrast, so to your eyes it will feel quite bright. Additionally, on Earth some light never reaches the surface, while we have a great variety of surfaces which affect the strength of that light differently. $\endgroup$
    – Mitch Goshorn
    Dec 7, 2014 at 5:11
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The Earth is clearly visible from the moon.

http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_feature/public/images/296636main_1241_full_full.jpg?itok=ixcY9zFS

In the linked image, Harrison Schmitt, the mission specialist on Apollo 17, stands next to the American flag, with the Earth in the background, the image was taken by mission commander, Gene Cernan. Schmitt claims to have taken the "blue marble image" during the journey to the moon.

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Earth diameter = 6,371 km Moon diameter = 1,737 km ratio 3.6 : 1 Moon seen from Earth has size X. so Earth seen from Moon has size 3.6X x 3.6X making it look roughly 13 times bigger on the sky than Moon looks on Earths sky. I wonder how come they forgot about this...

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