An earthshine is a smokey glow on the dark side of the moon caused by the reflection of sunlight that shines on the Earth. This sunshine reflects on the dark side of the moon giving it an unreal glow. Even though this light is only a reflection it can still illuminate some features of the moon. This sunlight gives the moon a glow, as the moon has no light of its own. An earthshine glow can be seen early in the morning or just after sunset.
A Reflection of Light
This light that is called Earthshine happens when the light from the sun is reflected back to the Earth's surface, then unto the moon. Some of this light is reflected back to the earth again. This is the reason we see part of the dark side of the moon illuminated by this double reflection. Earthshine is dimmer than the moon light because of the double reflection when it loses its power. The moon's albedo is less that Earth's, which makes the Earthshine even dimmer.
During the time of a crescent moon, only a sliver of sunlight is reflected to earth, but when the moon is crescent the rest of the moon is illuminated. If you were on the moon at the time of a crescent moon, you would be able to see the Earth in full.
