In article ,
(Eugene Shubert) writes:
When a sizable part of the earth's surface and atmosphere is heated up
during the day, doesn't a measurable fraction of that heated material
reradiate energy in the visible spectrum?

Nope, not if you mean strictly thermal emission. I suppose you could
consider auroral emission under this definition, but I personally
wouldn't refer to the auroral ions as "heated material." Thermal
emission is of course the dominant component at wavelengths longer
than 2.5 microns or so. At shorter wavelengths, the sky emission
(i.e., ignoring visible stars and planets) is some combination of
twilight (sunlight scattered in Earth's atmosphere), moonlight,
auroral emission, Zodiacal light (sunlight scattered by
interplanetary dust), and light from unresolved stars (e.g., the
Milky Way).

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Steve Willner Phone 617-495-7123
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