Patterns of the Moon
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The moon circles the Earth about once a month as the earth spins beneath it each day and together the Earth and moon orbit around the sun once a year. This spin of the Earth is the most noticeable motion and it dominates our perception of the sky causing all objects to seem to rise and set. Over time other patterns can be discerned such as the change in the maximum positions of the sun on the horizon from year to year. Each month the moon seems to move between rising and setting extremes on the horizon as well, but if tracked over several years the maximum positions for the moon will eventually be more extreme than the solstice positions of the sun. Many ancient cultures marked the yearly range of the sun at solstices and evidence exists that some tracked the standstill patterns of the moon.
Alignment Events:
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NOTE: For some of these illustrations you can play the slideshow or open one image and use the arrow keys to advance the animations.
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