Earth phase
Among the most prominent features of the Moon's sky is Earth. Earth's apparent size is four times the Moon's as seen from Earth. However, because the Moon's orbit is eccentric, Earth's size in the sky may be a bit smaller or larger at times. Earth shows phases, just like the Moon does for observers on the Earth. The phases, however, are opposite; when the observer on the Earth sees the "full Moon", the observer on the Moon sees a "new Earth", and vice versa. Earth's albedo is three times as high as that of the Moon (due in part to its whitish cloud cover), and coupled with the wider area, the "full Earth" glows over 50 times brighter than the "full Moon" does for the observer on Earth. This Earth light reflected on the Moon's darkened near-side half is bright enough to be visible from Earth – a phenomenon known as Earthshine.