Moonrise which direction

Note that crescent strictly means "growing"; the Moon should really be called decrescent at this phase. If you know how many days it is since New Moon, multiply that by 50 minutes, to find out approximately how much the Moon is lagging behind the Sun. It will only be approximate, because the Moon's orbit is an ellipse rather than a circle, and it doesn't go round at a constant speed.

So the Moon crosses the sky about 50 minutes later every day. And you might think it would rise 50 minutes later every day, and set 50 minutes later too. But this isn't true - because the Moon doesn't spend the same length of time above the horizon every day. The Sun goes through a seasonal variation, once a year. In December and January, the Sun is in the far south of the sky. It rises in the south-east; it spends only a few hours above the horizon for northern-hemisphere observers , crossing the sky quite low down; and it sets in the south-west.

In June and July, the Sun is in the far north of the sky. It rises in the north-east ; it spends many hours above the horizon for northern-hemisphere observers , crossing the sky quite high up; and it sets in the north-west. The Moon follows the same cycle, but about twelve times faster; it gets round in about a month. The Moon is in the same place as the Sun at New Moon. As we have seen, the time at which the Moon crosses the southern sky gets later every day, by about 50 minutes.

So the time at which the Moon rises and sets will also vary from day to day. For example, when the Moon is heading northwards, it spends longer above the horizon each day. Editor's Pick. What is the universe expanding into? Intermediate What do I need to do to become an astronomer? Beginner What's the difference between astronomy and astrology? Beginner Why is looking out into space the same as looking back in time? Beginner Can we find the place where the Big Bang happened?

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Beginner Are there telescopes that can see the flag and lunar rover on the Moon? Intermediate How do you measure the distance between Earth and the Sun? Beginner Why is the moon in a different place every night? Beginner At what speed does the Earth move around the Sun? Because of this motion, celestial bodies such as the Sun, Moon and stars appear to rise in the eastern sky and set in the western sky.

In addition, the Earth is tilted on its axis by It orbits the Earth on a plane that is approximately 5. This causes the position of the moonrise and Moonset to vary up to The Moon orbits completely around the Earth in This causes the Moon to move through its