Expert: Paul Wagner - 4/29/2011

Question
I was browsing the Cornell University Astronomy web site and I read in an answer to a question posed by a school teacher that one should be able to see stars from the lunar surface when looking up into the moon's sky "day or night" as there is no atmosphere. This made sense to me. So then I got curious and went to see what stars the Apollo astronauts were indeed able to see as I suspected one could see stars all the better with no atmosphere. Well I must say I found myself so very surprised to hear Neil Armstrong tell Patrick Moore in a 1970 BBC interview that the only objects one can see from the moon's surface in the lunar sky are the the planet earth and the sun. Neil Armstrong said in that interview, "THE SKY IS A DEEP BLACK WHEN VIEWED FROM THE MOON, AS IT IS WHEN VIEWED FROM CIS-LUNAR SPACE, THE SPACE BETWEEN THE EARTH AND THE MOON. THE EARTH IS THE ONLY VISIBLE OBJECT OTHER THAN THE SUN THAT CAN BE SEEN, ALTHOUGH THERE HAVE BEEN REPORTS OF SEEING PLANETS. I MYSELF DID NOT SEE PLANETS FROM THE SURFACE BUT I SUSPECT THEY MIGHT BE VISIBLE". So now I am very confused. The Cornell Astronomy Dept. people's answer to the teacher makes sense to me. But on the other hand, the Cornell astronomers have never been to the moon and maybe they are not as smart as they think they are. What is the correct "answer" if one could call it that? By the way, one can find the Neil Armstrong interview on You-Tube, just search "Neil Armstrong, BBC, 1970 interview, Patrick Moore". It is short and the stuff about not seeing stars is the first issue addressed. Thanks!!! Patrick

Answer
Hi Patrick

This is a great question---and I am perfectly ready to admit that since I haven't been on the moon, I don't know the answer either!  But here is some food for thought.  Remember that Armstrong is referring to his time on the moon, when the Earth is shining brightly in the sky, and the lunar surface was light up brightly as well.  So the pupils of his eyes would have been pretty darn closed at that point.  And yes, he was wearing a heavilyy shielded face plate that would have protected him from both the glare and the radiation, but that would have also greatly diminished the starlight.

My guess is that if he had looked carefully, he would have been able to see stars, but they might well have been difficult to see without shielding his eyes from the bright earth and moonlight.  If he had an observatory there, or could had stood in the shadows of the lander, I'll bet that the stars would have been visible.

What do you think?

Paul Wagner