Visual geometric albedo

In astronomy, the geometric albedo of a celestial body is the ratio of its actual brightness as seen from the light source (i.e. at zero phase angle) to that of an idealized flat, fully reflecting, diffusively scattering (Lambertian) disk with the same cross-section. (This phase angle refers to the direction of the light paths and is not a phase angle in its normal meaning in optics or electronics.)

Diffuse scattering implies that radiation is reflected isotropically with no memory of the location of the incident light source. Zero phase angle corresponds to looking along the direction of illumination. For Earth-bound observers this occurs when the body in question is at opposition and on the ecliptic.

The visual geometric albedo refers to the geometric albedo quantity when accounting for only electromagnetic radiation in the visible spectrum.

The surface materials (regoliths) of airless bodies (in fact, the majority of bodies in the Solar System) are strongly non-Lambertian and exhibit the opposition effect, which is a strong tendency to reflect light straight back to its source, rather than scattering light diffusely.

The geometric albedo of these bodies can be difficult to determine because of this, as their reflectance is strongly peaked for a small range of phase angles near zero. The strength of this peak differs markedly between bodies, and can only be found by making measurements at small enough phase angles. Such measurements are usually difficult due to the necessary precise placement of the observer very close to the incident light. For example, the Moon is never seen from the Earth at exactly zero phase angle, because then it is being eclipsed. Other Solar System bodies are not in general seen at exactly zero phase angle even at opposition, unless they are also simultaneously located at the ascending or descending node of their orbit, and hence lie on the ecliptic. In practice, measurements at small nonzero phase angles are used to derive the parameters which characterize the directional reflectance properties for the body (Hapke parameters). The reflectance function described by these can then be extrapolated to zero phase angle to obtain an estimate of the geometric albedo.

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