How bright is moonlight?

Author(s)
Christopher C. M. Kyba, Andrej Mohar, Thomas Posch
Abstract

Recent years have seen increasing recognition and study of the effect of moonlight on plants and animals.
The typical brightness of moonlight is therefore an important parameter for biological laboratory studies, yet incorrect values for the moonlight illuminance are frequently used and cited. We have used the brightness of the “supermoon” of 14 November 2016 to demonstrate that typical lunar illuminance is around 0.05 to 0.1 lux at temperate latitudes during the summer.

Organisation(s)
Department of Astrophysics
External organisation(s)
Leibniz-Institut für Gewässerökologie und Binnenfischerei, Euromix d.o.o.
Journal
Astronomy & Geophysics
Volume
58
Pages
1.31-1.32
No. of pages
2
ISSN
1366-8781
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/astrogeo/atx025
Publication date
02-2017
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
103003 Astronomy, 103004 Astrophysics, 105906 Environmental geosciences
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Geochemistry and Petrology, Geophysics
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/a574d8b2-bc2a-441a-96ea-74134b686215