The moon glows because its surface reflects sunlight. It does not produce its own light like the Sun does. The sunlight that hits the moon's surface is reflected back toward Earth, which makes the moon appear bright and glowing in the night sky. The brightness of the moon varies depending on its phase, which changes as the moon orbits Earth and different portions of its sunlit surface become visible to us. The moon reflects only about 12-13.6% of the sunlight that falls on it due to its surface properties, yet this reflection is enough to make it shine brightly compared to stars because of its proximity to Earth.
