The Moon

Questions
• What is the motion of the Moon ?
• What causes phases of the Moon?
• Why does the Moon face always look the same?
• What is the Moon illusion ?
• What causes eclipses ?
• What causes tides ?
• What does Earth look like from the Moon ?

The Moon
What is the motion of the Moon ?

• The Moon is the faithful follower

of the Earth.
• It is the object closest to the Earth
at about 380,000 km.
• It orbits the Earth once every 27.3
days.
• It accompanies the Earth on its
orbit around the sun.

The Moon
What is the motion of the Moon ?

• Due to the rotation of the Earth from west to east, the

Moon, like the stars appears to rise in the east and set
in the west every night.

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 Moonrise/Moonset

The monthly path of the Moon

in the sky is roughly the same
as the yearly path of the
Sun (ignoring its orbital tilt)

The Moon
What is the motion of the Moon ?

｡
• The Sun
｡
moves about 1 a day
(360 in 365.25 days)
• The Moon follows roughly the
same path as the Sun (ignoring
its orbital tilt)
• However it moves 360 degrees
in 1 month, rather than 1 year.

The Moon
What is the motion of the Moon ?

｡
• The Moon moves about 12.2
each day, relative to the
Sun; which corresponds to
lagging behind the Sun, by
about 48.8 minutes of time each
day.

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 What causes phases of the Moon?

What causes phases of the Moon?

• Lunar phases are a
consequence of the
Moon’s 27.3-day
orbit around Earth

What causes phases of the Moon?

• The Moon reflects
light from the sun
• Half of the Moon is
illuminated by Sun
and half is dark
• We see a changing
amount of the bright
and dark faces as the
Moon orbits
For an animation of moon
phases check out
http://www.sumanasinc.com/webcontent/anisamples/astronomy/moonphase.html

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 Moonrise/Moonset

The new Moon

occurs when the
Moon lies in the
same direction as
the Sun.
The Moon rises
close to sunrise
and sets close to
sunset

Moonrise/Moonset

The first quarter

Moon occurs when
the Moon is
roughly 90 degrees
east of the sun
The Moon thus
rises close to noon
and sets close to
midnight.

Moonrise/Moonset

The full Moon

occurs when the
Moon is opposite
the sun
The Moon thus
rises close to
sunset and sets
close to sunrise.

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 Moonrise/Moonset
The third quarter
Moon occurs
when the Moon is
roughly 90
degrees west of
the Sun
The Moon thus
rises close to
midnight and sets
close to noon.

Phases of the Moon: 29.5-day cycle

new
crescent
first quarter
gibbous
full
} waxing
• Moon visible in afternoon/evening.
• Gets “fuller” and rises later each day.

gibbous
last quarter
crescent
} waning
• Moon visible in late night/morning.
• Gets “less” and sets later each day.

Thought Question
It’s 9 am. You look up in the sky and see a
moon with half its face bright and half dark.
What phase is it?

A. First quarter
B. Waxing gibbous
C. Third quarter
D. Half moon

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 Question
It’s 9 am. You look up in the sky and see a
moon with half its face bright and half dark.
What phase is it?

A. First quarter
B. Waxing gibbous
C. Third quarter
D. Half moon

Man on the Moon

Synchronous rotation:
the Moon rotates exactly
once with each orbit

That is why only one

face is visible from Earth

The Moon Illusion

Why does the Moon look bigger close to the horizon
and smaller when it is higher up ?

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 The Moon Illusion
Why does the Moon look bigger close to the horizon and
smaller when it is higher up ? Its an illusion !

A time-lapse sequence of the moon rising over Seattle. To the

camera, the moon appears to be the same size no matter what its
location on the sky. Credit and copyright: Shay Stephens.

The Moon Illusion

The explanation of the Moon illusion may be quite
complicated.

A similar illusion: Ponzo’s illusion

Both yellow lines are

the same size!

BUT airline pilots flying at very high altitudes sometimes experience

the Moon Illusion without any objects in the foreground. What tricks
their eyes?

The Moon Illusion

The explanation of the Moon illusion may be quite
complicated.

A possible explanation: Flattened sky effect

Humans perceive the sky as a flattened dome, with the zenith nearby
and the horizon far away. When the moon is near the horizon, your
brain miscalculates the moon's true distance and size.

For other explanations visit http://facstaff.uww.edu/mccreadd/

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 What causes eclipses?
• The Earth and Moon cast shadows.
• When either passes through the other’s shadow, we
have an eclipse.

Lunar Eclipse

• Lunar eclipses can

occur only at full
moon when the
moon is on the
other side of the
earth.
• Lunar eclipses can
be penumbral,
partial, or total.

Solar Eclipse
• Solar eclipses can occur
only at new moon, when
the moon is in between
the sun and the earth.
• Solar eclipses can be
partial, total, or
annular.

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Why don’t we have an eclipse at every new and full
moon?
– The Moon’s orbit is tilted 5° to ecliptic plane…
– So we have about two eclipse seasons each year, with a lunar
eclipse at new moon and solar eclipse at full moon.

Summary: Two conditions must be met

to have an eclipse:
1. It must be full moon (for a lunar eclipse) or new moon
(for a solar eclipse).
AND
2. The Moon must be at or near one of the two points in its
orbit where it crosses the ecliptic plane (its nodes).

Earthrise
July 20, 1969 marks the first time a human
being (Neil Armstrong) stepped onto another
celestial body - the Moon.

For the first time, we got to see the Earth

rising over the Moon !

This is still viewed by many as the single

greatest technological achievement of all
time.

Movie about Lunar landing:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4166049933953240830

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 Tidal Forces
The differential gravitational pull of the Moon on the
near and far sides of the Earth causes high and low
tides twice a day:

Spring and Neap tides depend on whether the Sun is

aligned parallel or perpendicular to the Moon

Summary
• What is the motion of the Moon ?
It orbits the Earth once every 27.3 days.
Its monthly path in the sky is roughly the same
as the yearly path of the Sun (ignoring its orbital
tilt).
• What causes phases of the Moon?
Half the Moon is lit by the Sun; half is in
shadow, as the Moon orbits the Earth we see
different amounts of the lit and dark sides.
• Why does the Moon face always look the same?
The Moon rotates exactly once with each orbit,
so only one face is visible from Earth

Summary
• What is the Moon illusion ?
The Moon look bigger close to the horizon and smaller
when it is higher up ? Its an optical illusion !
• What causes tides ?
The differential gravitational pull of the Moon on the
near and far sides of the Earth causes high and low
tides twice a day
• What causes eclipses?
– Lunar eclipse: Earth’s shadow on the Moon
– Solar eclipse: Moon’s shadow on Earth
– Tilt of Moon’s orbit relative to the plane pf the
elliptic means eclipses occur during two periods
each year

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