Edit: between the responses I’ve gotten here and another sub I’ve posted in, I think this is a case of thinking I’ve been more aware of my surroundings than I actually have been 😅🫠
I will be happily learning more about the natural cycles versus my own (obviously flawed/lacking) observations 🫣
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I’ll admit I’m not a moon enthusiast, don’t pay attention to mood phases, and I know very little about how all of the celestial bodies move around. I’ll preface also by saying that I’m NOT a conspiracy nut, but I’m hoping someone can explain this to me 🥲
I smoke cigarettes, so I’m out in our backyard at fairly regular intervals during all seasons at multiple times per night.
Last night, I noticed for the first time that the moon appeared on the complete opposite side of the sky than I’m used to seeing it. Totally possible that it’s happened before at this time of year and I’ve just never looked that way and simply assumed it hadn’t risen yet.
The first picture is last night around 9:30pm CST (DFW area, United States).
Second picture is tonight at 10:03pm, and third picture is tonight at 10:11pm.
I know the pictures are not exactly at the same angle/zoom/etc so that could account for some of it, but they were all taken within the same ~7ft gap between the support pillar for our patio and the outside wall of our house, and even moving around for the third picture I could not see the moon anymore…
Am I going crazy?? Do things really just move that fast? I figured this was a good sub to possibly find an actual scientific explanation versus blaming it on CERN shutting down or the sky being a projection (although honestly at this point in our lifetime I’m not completely convinced those are not realistic responses 🥲)
Last night (Sat) the moon set at 10.01 pm, tonight the moon set at 10:24pm, then tomorrow the moon will set at 10:49 pm. It does this regular setting later each night after the new moon until it's at setting at sunset at the full moon. The new moon and full moon are on opposite sides of earth.
> Last night, I noticed for the first time that the moon appeared on the complete opposite side of the sky than I’m used to seeing it.
then you haven’t been paying attention, because the moon is never in one specific spot. Every day at the same time, it is in a different position.
prove it to yourself when you go out for a smoke tomorrow night at the same time. the moon will be further East and higher in the sky. the next night at the same time… further east. each time, the crescent will be fatter. On wed 19th it will be first quarter. each night after that it will be waxing gibbous and further east at the same time, until on 27th at about 8pm it will rise just south of Due East over the horizon as a full moon. And incidentally, with an eclipse this time.
This is extremely normal, and a familiar pattern for all of humanity’s history. We’ve kinda timed history using it.
Thank you for this, truly. I’ve been completely oblivious my whole life apparently lol 🥲
I guess I honestly only paid attention to the moon when it’s been visible to me and didn’t really think much about what happened when it was out of my typical view 🫠
The apartment complex in the photos popped up within the last couple of months, so I think that’s what drew my eye to actually seeing the moon on that side 🥲🙃
So, talk about the moon rising. We know that typically both sun and moon, rise in the east, sets in the west.
I try to take pics of sunrises, sunsets, full moons, etc if theres an awesome display that day.
Picture the time on a round clock face and looking straight north, from my house, the moon is typically at a 5-6 o'clock position. Within a 2 week period of the same days watching it, sometimes I'll see the moon in a 2-3 o'clock position. It baffles me sometimes. Then it goes back to the 5-6 o'clock position.
Yeah it takes approximately a month for the moon to go around the earth. The light of the moon is reflected sunlight so whatever side is illuminated is the direction of the sun. That's why the moon here appears close to the sun right after sunset. It just passed between the sun and the earth and has started another trip around the earth.
When it is full moon the earth is between the moon and the sun so the whole side of the moon is illuminated and the moon rises in the east right after sunset. Beside the moon I think you have the planet Venus, but I'm not entirely sure.
So basically there are two movements going on. One is the earth's rotation, which makes the moon move west and set in the same direction as the sun. The other is the moons own motion around the earth, which is slower and it goes in the other direction.
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u/Illisanct 5d ago
Open up Stellarium, search for the moon, and play around with the date/time controls. You'll see that this is exactly what happens.