Black body side of the Moon

Question

A few closely related questions regrading the Moon thermodynamics:

• The Moon is clearly not a black body, as it reflects a great deal of radiation incident on it. Still, it does absorb some radiation and re-emit it: can this part of the Moon spectrum be described as black body radiation? What fractions of the radiation coming from the Moon are reflected/re-emitted?
• What is the temperature of the black body component of the Moon radiation? Is the Moon in equilibrium with the surrounding space (about 3K due to the cosmic microwave background)? Is the Moon temperature rising/falling?
• The Moon is heated inhomogeneously - only one side of it is illuminated by the Sun, and this illumination varies in time. Is the Moon an efficient heat conductor: in other words, is the radiation absorbed by its illuminated side propagates to be re-emitted by non-illuminated regions or is this energy released when these illuminated areas are out of the Sunlight?

References to relevant review articles or a books are greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

What fractions of the radiation coming from the Moon are reflected/re-emitted?

This number is called the albedo. Some representative values are

object	albedo
fresh snow	0.8
Earth (average)	0.3
Moon (average)	0.1
coal	0.05

Here is a list of the brightnesses of some specific lunar features.

Is the Moon in equilibrium with the surrounding space (about 3K)?

No. The Moon is heated by sunshine during the day. It cools at night, but not completely.

Is the Moon an efficient heat conductor: in other words, is the radiation absorbed by its illuminated side propagates to be re-emitted by non-illuminated regions?

To answer this question, look for literature about the possibility that stable water ice exists near the Moon’s poles. The sunlit moon is warm enough that ice is unstable, and sublimates into vapor. However, some polar craters are permanently shadowed, and ice deposits (or more likely, ice particles as a component of the regolith) may be hidden in their darkness.