Earthshine: Explanation, video

The Moon is in this position. It often provides us with something known as Earthshine, or light that bounces off clouds and the Earth's surface, up to the unlit portion of the Moon, then back to us. Think about that time difference for a moment. The Moon is about 240,000 miles away, so at light speed of 186,000 miles per second, light takes 1.3 seconds to bounce off the Moon and reach our eye. But, the Earthshine part of the Moon is getting reflected light from the Earth. So the Earthshine light is about two and a half seconds older than the lit side of the Moon. So you're seeing younger and older light simultaneously. How cool is that?