Nocturnal Photosynthesis

It's a basic fact that most plants need sunlight to generate growth. Sure, they also need water and nutrients, but their reliance on sunlight is the one sole thing that separates them from animals.

Now, compare our sun to our moon. Even at its fullest, moonlight can only get to an apparent magnitude of -12.90, which is 1/400,000 as bright as our sun. To make matters worse, it's just a ball of unbreathable rock, which has a fairly low albedo, despite what the view of the moon would have you thinking. In short, moonlight is nowhere near strong enough for photosynthesis to occur.

But let's say that some alternate Earth is orbited by a Pluto-sized ball of ice, which is more reflective than rock. From a view of the night sky on that planet, this new icy moon, in its crescent, is 12,000 times brighter than our full moon. Which means that when this icy moon gets full, it's going to get even brighter. But will it be bright enough to encourage plants to photosynthesize in the dark of night?

posted over 5 years ago

JohnWDailey‭

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