<p>Flashes from some meteoroid impacts on the Moon can be seen with the naked eye. How much light must a future lunar base emit in order to be visible as a dot in the lunar night (like the flag of Tunisia)? I suppose it is a bit complicated and depends on the phase of the Moon, and that the new Moon is so close to the Sun.</p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/kchuA.png" alt="enter image description here"></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-24T14:54:02.157Z
This is sort of the reverse of this question: Can you see man-made lights on the dark side of the Earth from the surface of the moon with the naked eye? http://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/8105/can-you-see-man-made-lights-on-the-dark-side-of-the-earth-from-the-surface-of-th/8111#8111 You need 100 megawatts or so to see a non-coherent light source from lunar distance.
Wayfaring Stranger
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-25T22:59:54.330Z
Somewhat related, very amusing http://what-if.xkcd.com/13/
toniedzwiedz
<the-moon><light><naked-eye>
How strong does a light source on the Moon have to be to be visible from Earth?
LocalFluff
# How strong does a light source on the Moon have to be to be visible from Earth?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-04-24)

Flashes from some meteoroid impacts on the Moon can be seen with the naked eye. How much light must a future lunar base emit in order to be visible as a dot in the lunar night (like the flag of Tunisia)? I suppose it is a bit complicated and depends on the phase of the Moon, and that the new Moon is so close to the Sun.

![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/kchuA.png)

**Tags:** the-moon, light, naked-eye

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: This is sort of the reverse of this question: Can you see man-made lights on the dark side of the Earth from the surface of the moon with the naked eye? http://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/8105/can-you-see-man-made-lights-on-the-dark-side-of-the-earth-from-the-surface-of-th/8111#8111 You need 100 megawatts or so to see a non-coherent light source from lunar distance.  
> **username_2**: Somewhat related, very amusing http://what-if.xkcd.com/13/  

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