If Moonlight is just the Sun’s light reflecting off the moon, and when Sunlight passes through the atmosphere it turns yellow, why does the daytime Moon look white?

Question

I know that in space the Sun looks white, but still.

In: Physics

Answer 1

Both the Sun and Moon are affected by Rayleigh scattering, which causes blue light to scatter away, leaving them appearing yellowish. The effect is stronger when either body is low to the horizon, and weak when they are high in the sky.

During the day, the blue light scattered from the Sun can mix in front of light from the Moon, causing the Moon to appear more white, though with blue “shadows”. The Moon appears most yellow when it is near the horizon, and the Sun is also low or below the horizon.