Repost: Understanding full moon
Posted: November 10, 2011 Filed under: Astronomy, Earth Science Leave a comment »Originally posted May 17, 2011
I really love this explanation of the relationship between the Earth, moon, and sun at full moon (from EarthSky.org):
The moon and sun are on a line, with Earth in between. It’s as though Earth is the fulcrum of a seesaw, and the moon and sun are sitting on either end of the seesaw. Thus as the sun sets in the west, the full moon rises. When the sun is below our feet at midnight, the full moon is highest in the sky. When the sun rises again at dawn, the full moon is setting.
In many ways, a full moon is the opposite of a new moon. At both the new and full phases, the moon is on a line with the Earth and sun. At new moon, the moon is in the middle position along the line. At full moon, Earth is in the middle.
