Based on data from one 24 hour observational period, we can state that the moon does not rise in the same place on the horizon each night. Tonight it rose at least a couple degrees to the north of where it rose last night.
What could cause that? Does the moon follow a wobbling orbit? Probably not; not with a daily wobble anyway. Maybe it has to do with the tilt of the axis of the earth’s rotation. That tilt relative to the orbit of the earth around the sun creates the seasons, where the sun appears to rise farther north in the summer and farther south in the winter. Maybe the orbit of the moon around the earth is off from the axis of the earth’s rotation, so the moon appears to move up and down the horizon as well. That might explain it.
The cycle of the seasons, our trip around the sun, lasts a year. Maybe the cycle of the moon appearing at different places on our horizon lasts about a month. I wonder if the moon rises at the same place on the horizon every full moon.
Further observations are planned.
No comments:
Post a Comment