the moon....?

Question

ok, this is going to seem like a really dumb question now but sometimes i can't see the moon in the sky. why is this...........or is this just me? is it because the moon travels around the world or something. i can't believe i'm asking this question. please no mean answers. i'm looking for decent sensible answers.

Answer 1

it orbits every 28 days... you can only see it when its illuminated by the sun... most of the time its elsewhere...

when you can see it during the daytime, its called earthshine, the sun is low on the horizon and literally bounces light off our atmosphere...

simple enough...

Answer 2

No, it is not just you.

The earth and the moon orbit around each other, and not any where near as fast as the earth rotates, so the moon is on the other side of the earth and therefore not visible to you, almost as often as the sun is on the other side of the earth from you.

Then, there are things besides the earth that get in your way, like clouds, and bright sunlight, and ceilings, all of which will prevent you from seeing the moon at times.

But, no, it is not that the moon travels around the world. There are hundreds of man-made satellites that travel around the world at the exact same speed as the earth rotates, so if you had a strong enough telescope, you could always see them, even during the brightest parts of the day. It's that the moon and the earth travel around a common center of gravity, called a Barycenter, which is about one sixth the distance between the center of the earth and the center of the moon, which is part of why it isn't always in the same place in the sky.

Answer 3

The moon is below the horizon half the time from any point on the Earth's surface.

Most places on Earth, this is because the Earth is turning and the moon is orbiting much more slowly----the moon goes around the Earth once a month, but the Earth makes a complete turn every day. The Moon is then up for about 12 hours a day (give or take a few hours), but sometimes this is in the daytime (near new moon) and sometimes this is at night (near full moon).

New moon is when the moon is on the part of its monthly orbit that puts it between the Earth and Sun. Full moon is when the moon is on the part of its monthly orbit on the far side of the Earth from the Sun (that is, at night).

In the polar regions, the moon is up for two weeks, and down for two weeks.

Answer 4

Starting with the full moon - A day or two before the "full moon" you will see the
moon rise just before sunset. At full moon it will rise as the sun sets, and of course
after the sun sets as the time goes on. Each night after, notice how the light on the
moon shrinks from full to last quarter and then to nothing (a 2 week time period).
Also during this time you will notice the moon "traveling" closer to the sun.
Two weeks from full moon (day may vary) look for the sliver of the moon just before sunset.
As the moon moves into NEW moon and you cannot see at all, watch for it to become noticable
as a sliver in the other direction as the sun sets. Follow the light on the moon as
it expands to first quarter and then to full. So you can actually see the moon and the sun
at the same time virtually most of the month.

Answer 5

It orbits the Earth.

Please, next time you see the moon as a crescent just after dark, look where it is in the sky, then go out the next night at exactly the same time. You will see that the moon has moved somewhat towards the east.

It will move this amount every night, filling out to a full moon after about 14 days and rising then in the east just as the sun is setting.

It is simple observation - you and millions of other kids need to take more notice of your world and universe. It is not difficult if you use your eyes, but very difficult to imagine if you don't actually see it happening.

I am surprised that you do not know that the moon orbits the Earth - that should be very basic knowledge.

Answer 6

Hear are the reasons: the moon is on the other side of the earth, the clouds cover it, and because when the moon orbits the earth, different parts of the moon will reflect the sun. It's kinda hard for a 15 year old that stopped reading astronomy books years ago to explain it.

Answer 7

Yes, sometimes the moon is on the other side of the Earth from you. It's only a little bit because the Moon travels around the Earth (takes about 29.5 days). Its mostly because the Earth spins (24 hour day).

Think about this: sometimes the Moon is close to the Sun (okay, for you nit pickers, it appears to be close in the sky). It will stay close for a couple of days. Meanwhile, the Earth spins around and the Sun (with the Moon close to it) sets and rises.

The Moon sets and rises pretty much like the Sun. For example, on March 15 at Wash. DC:
Moon rise: 0526 EDT; Moon set: 1515 EDT; visible for 9 hours 49 minutes.
Sun rise: 0720 EDT; Sun set 1915 EDT; visible for 11 hours 55 minutes.

Answer 8

1/2 the time the moon is on the other side of the earth. In the remaining time, sometimes the moon is just a sliver so you might not notice it. Then with clouds etc. the moon is probably visible about 1/4 of the time.

Answer 9

We can see the moon because it reflects rays from the sun. When the moon gets to a certain position around the earth, the earth is just covering the rays from the sun and so there are no rays for the moon to reflect and it is not visible from earth.

This is also why we get full moon, half moon etc. Its all to do with the relative positions of the earth, sun and moon

Hope u understood what i'm trying to say :)

Answer 10

The moon orbits the Earth every 28 days. As it orbits, we see different "phases" of the moon - sometimes full, sometimes half, sometimes a cresent moon, etc -

Well, 12 hours out of the day, the moon is beneath the horizon, and 3 days every lunar orbit the moon is in the "new moon" phase, where the side facing us is always in shadow.

Does that help?

Answer 11

Picture in your head the Earth going spinning round.
Then add to that the Moon going the Earth.
Then imagine the two of them going around the Sun, with the it casting shadows.
Then finely you are a spot looking straight out from the Earth.
Hope that helps.