"Stephen" <mcavoys_AT_aolDOT.com> wrote:
> Because there is no atmosphere in space the shadows should be deep and
> sharp (The ambient for your textures should be 0 or very close).

Atmospheric scattering isn't the only factor.  The Earth casts formidable
backlighting.  In low Earth orbit, the Earth occupies nearly all of one
side of the universe.  At the Earth-Moon distance, the Earth reflects
almost 60 times more light than the Moon.

The sharpness of the shadows depends on the size of the light source.  The
Sun spans about 1/2 degree in diameter, enough for subtly, but noticeably
fuzzy shadow edges.  An extreme case is the penumbral area of a lunar
eclipse.

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