Half of the moon is lit all the time, with the exception of a lunar eclipse when the moon passes through the earth's shadow.

Reflcctive power is measured in "albedo" or brightness. An albedo of 100% would mean that the object in question reflects all of the light that hits it. Like, say, a mirror (although, strictly speaking, even a mirror doesn't reflect all of the light).

The earth has an albedo of about 39%.

The moon has an albedo of about 7%. But as one can see, even at a mere 7%, the moon appears to be pretty bright.

A lot depends on the material that is doing the reflecting. For example, on earth, the oceans reflect less than 10% of the light that hits them, whereas snow reflects a good 90%. The darker areas of a planet also absorb more heat, hence the environmentalists' concern over loosing snow fields, glaciers, and such. With diminishing snow fields, the earth absorbs more of the sun's heat. Vicious circle.

Don't buy waterfront property. When the polar caps melt, the map of the world (land areas) will change--diminish--radically.

No matter what Rush Limbaugh says....

Don Firth