Geometric albedo

Geometric albedo is a term that describes how shiny or reflective a surface is. Imagine you have two balls: one is a super shiny, chrome ball and the other is a dull, matte ball. If you shine a light on both balls, the shiny ball will reflect a lot of the light and look very bright, while the matte ball will absorb most of the light and look very dim.

Now think about this on a bigger scale, like planets or asteroids. Scientists use the term geometric albedo to describe how much light is reflected by these celestial objects. A planet or asteroid with a high geometric albedo is very shiny and will reflect a lot of the light that hits it. A planet or asteroid with a low geometric albedo is dull and will absorb more of the light that hits it.

By analyzing the geometric albedo of different celestial objects, scientists can learn a lot about the makeup and composition of those objects. For example, a planet with a high geometric albedo might be covered in ice or reflective minerals, while a planet with a low geometric albedo might be mostly made up of darker materials like rock or carbon.