The Moon

[sunflower71]

The sun rises in the east and sets in the west......

What does the moon do??

[Octavius]

The Moon rises and sets in roughly the same places as the Sun, but about 50 minutes later each night. The Sun and the Moon are on opposite sides of the Earth, and when one sets the other rises.

[scuzzball]

This reply is pants. Try posting the question in science to get a correct answer.

[Octavius]

scuzzball if you disagree add your own answer not that childish drivel.

[raysparx1]

try this site sunflower71.

http://www.nineplanets.org/luna.html

[Octavius]

This one illustrates the motion.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages /9_10/earth_sun_moon.shtml

with more info here......

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/weather/hunters _moon.shtml

[jake-the-peg]

Octavius - are you sure you're saying what you want to say here.

The sun and the moon are only on opposite sides of the earth once a month (roughly) - otherwise we'd never have a solar eclipse!

[Octavius]

JTP, yeah I know it's more technical than that, hence my little bbc links with an animated sequence.

[Loosehead]

You are all sinners, everyone knows that the Earth is centre of the Universe and it is round and flat on the back of a tortoise and the Sun, the moon and the stars and the planets all orbit the earth.
---- The Pope

[Octavius]

loosehead, you forgot about the four elephants.

[mibn2cweus]

The Earth orbits the Sun annually in the same direction as it rotates around it axis daily (looking from above our solar systems mean orbital plane).

The Moon orbits the Earth about once a month in the opposite direction of the Earth's rotation.

That the Sun and Moon appear to rise in the east and set in the west is due primarily to the Earth's daily rotation. Since the Moon is slowly orbiting the Earth (in the opposite direction of the Earth's rotation) it appears to rise/set a little later each successive day.


The Earth actually spins a bit faster than once a day. In all it rotates one extra rotation each year as it orbits the Sun.

[mibn2cweus]

D�oh! . . .
The Moon orbits the Earth in the same direction as the Earth rotates on its axis. Otherwise it would appear to rise/set earlier each day/night.

[sheenadoran]

drive you mad if you look at it for too long. hence the word lunatic

[knobbynonuts]

shines very brightly