This week's question comes from Morning Brief reader Patty, who asks, “Why can we sometimes see the moon in the daytime?”

Meteorologist Jennifer Gray: Most people think of the moon as a nighttime object, but it’s actually visible during the day quite often. In fact, the moon is above the horizon about half the time, we just don’t always notice it against the bright daytime sky.

The reason we can sometimes see the moon during daylight comes down to two things: sunlight and the moon’s position.

The moon does not produce its own light. Instead, what you are seeing is the sun’s reflection off the lunar surface. This is why, even during the day, the moon is still bright enough to be visible when its position in the sky places it above the horizon while the sun is also up.

Whether you can see it depends on where the moon is in its monthly orbit around Earth. As the moon circles the planet, the angle between Earth, the moon and the sun constantly changes, creating the lunar phases.

Around the time of a full moon, the moon rises near sunset and sets near sunrise, making it mostly a nighttime sight. But during phases such as the first quarter or waxing crescent, the moon can spend much of the day above the horizon.

A clear sky also helps. Thin clouds, haze or bright sunlight can sometimes make the moon harder to spot during the day, especially when it appears as a faint white shape, compared to the bright moon against the night sky.

Sometimes the daytime moon can appear surprisingly sharp when the sky is deep blue, providing a strong contrast for our eyes to pick it out.