<p>It depends on whether the part facing away from the sun is facing towards the Earth, or not.</p>
<p>If you are on the near-side, and the Earth is above the horizon, there is quite a lot of light from the Earth.  The Earth is big and reflects much more sunlight than the moon does.</p>
<p>But if you are in the lunar night and you are on the far side of the moon, the only light comes from stars, and it is very dark, too dark to see anything.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-08T21:04:30.400Z
If Venus is above the lunar horizon, it's not as dark, you may even be able to see shadows. Earthly examples: [1](https://www.facebook.com/Atatnight/photos/a.595885497457875/731194653926958/?type=3&theater), [2](https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2005/28nov_venusshadows). I suppose the same should be true for Jupiter.
Ruslan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-09T07:24:35.870Z
Not only is the Earth much bigger than is the Moon, it has a much higher albedo than does the Moon. On the near side of the Moon during a new Moon (as seen from the Earth) it will easily be bright enough to see lots of stuff because a nearly new Moon (as seen from the Earth) means a nearly full Earth (as seen from the Moon).
David Hammen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-09T18:32:32.057Z
@James K.  You say that someone can't see anything by starlight.  Possibly you have poor night vision and think that other people can't see anything by starlight.  I think that some people would be able to see where they are walking by starlight after their eyes adapted to the dark.
M. A. Golding
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-09T20:43:22.103Z
Possibly.  When I've been in places on Earth lit only by starlight I've not been able to see anything, except stars.
James K
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-20T02:05:27.313Z
According to the current Wikipedia entry for "earthshine," earthlight has a calculated maximum apparent magnitude of −17.7 as viewed from the Moon. Earthshine has a calculated maximum apparent magnitude of −3.69 as viewed from Earth. The entry for "planetshine" currently provides a generic diagram:        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetshine#/media/File:Earthshine_diagram.svg
WPWPWP
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-08T20:39:13.327Z
2022-11-09T02:00:06.940Z
2022-11-09T02:00:06.940Z
James K
<p>Remember, the actual &quot;dark side&quot; of the Moon is not the far side, facing away from us that we can't see, but rather it's the side that faces away from the Sun that is illuminating it.​<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/u0Rid.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/u0Rid.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-09T09:57:54.303Z
In what units are you expecting your answer? Do you mean how dark is it if you are there or how dark is it if you were to view it from some distance away? Or do you mean how dark is the dark side as viewed from Earth?
ProfRob
<the-moon><distances>
How dark is the side of the Moon facing away from the Sun? ( I don't mean the far side)
james taylor
# How dark is the side of the Moon facing away from the Sun? ( I don't mean the far side)

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-11-08)

Remember, the actual "dark side" of the Moon is not the far side, facing away from us that we can't see, but rather it's the side that faces away from the Sun that is illuminating it.​[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/u0Rid.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/u0Rid.png)

**Tags:** the-moon, distances

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: In what units are you expecting your answer? Do you mean how dark is it if you are there or how dark is it if you were to view it from some distance away? Or do you mean how dark is the dark side as viewed from Earth?  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2022-11-08. Score: 2

It depends on whether the part facing away from the sun is facing towards the Earth, or not.

If you are on the near-side, and the Earth is above the horizon, there is quite a lot of light from the Earth. The Earth is big and reflects much more sunlight than the moon does.

But if you are in the lunar night and you are on the far side of the moon, the only light comes from stars, and it is very dark, too dark to see anything.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: If Venus is above the lunar horizon, it's not as dark, you may even be able to see shadows. Earthly examples: [1](https://www.facebook.com/Atatnight/photos/a.595885497457875/731194653926958/?type=3&theater), [2](https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2005/28nov_venusshadows). I suppose the same should be true for Jupiter.  
> **username_4**: Not only is the Earth much bigger than is the Moon, it has a much higher albedo than does the Moon. On the near side of the Moon during a new Moon (as seen from the Earth) it will easily be bright enough to see lots of stuff because a nearly new Moon (as seen from the Earth) means a nearly full Earth (as seen from the Moon).  
> **username_5**: @username_2.  You say that someone can't see anything by starlight.  Possibly you have poor night vision and think that other people can't see anything by starlight.  I think that some people would be able to see where they are walking by starlight after their eyes adapted to the dark.  
> **username_2**: Possibly.  When I've been in places on Earth lit only by starlight I've not been able to see anything, except stars.  
> **username_6**: According to the current Wikipedia entry for "earthshine," earthlight has a calculated maximum apparent magnitude of −17.7 as viewed from the Moon. Earthshine has a calculated maximum apparent magnitude of −3.69 as viewed from Earth. The entry for "planetshine" currently provides a generic diagram:        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetshine#/media/File:Earthshine_diagram.svg  

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