TheBanyanTree: The Equatorial Moon

[auntiesash]

OK - here's what you do.  On a nice clear night when the moon is neither
full nor new, go outside and look up at the moon.  Notice which side is
visible and which is not.  Now lie down on the ground.  Moon still looks the
same.  Now lie on the ground with your feet pointing the opposite direction.
 Shazam!

So, for us Northern hemisphere types, a waxing moon is "a sliver on the
right growing bigger every night".  If we look up at the moon, we are
looking south, and the illuminated portion is on our right.  If we lie down
and point our feet so that we are facing north, then the illuminated portion
is on our left.

For the Southern hemisphere folks, the easiest way to look up at the moon is
to face north, so the waxing moon is rounded on the left.

My guess is, on the equator, the moon is more directly above, so the
question "Is the waxing moon illuminated on the right or on the left?" is
more obviously nonsensical because the observer's viewpoint is changed
easily without having to lie down.

(This explanation works really well if the other person is standing
there...)

On Thu, May 12, 2011 at 12:23 PM, Peter Macinnis <
petermacinnis at ozemail.com.au> wrote:

> On 12/05/2011 00:57, Tom Smith wrote:
>
>  Never dawned on me that the moon looked different
>> to Australians and North Americans. Now I'm curios
>> .. but will forego that "folded position"..since
>> I'm not that flexible.
>>
>
> I'm an Australian, and I looked last night, and it looked the same to me as
> it does to Americans.
>
>
> --
> peter macinnis
> currently on the edge of the Sahara in Erfud (or Arfoud)
>



-- 
Everyone is from somewhere
Even if you've never been there.
So take a minute to remember
The part of you that might be the Old Man calling me.
- *Jethro Tull*