Re: Has the moon moved?

Florian (whose receiver-makes-right non-wrapped text screws up text
newsreaders <g>) wrote:
I sort of lost you on the directions but the summer sun sets in the
west. However not due west but well north (to the right when looking
west) of due west. The summer full moon would rise in the east but
not due east, well south (to the right when looking east) of due
east. Also the moons is currently at a very southern point in its
orbit as visible from earth as well.

The last two statements are roughly equivalent; the Moon is currently
at a very southerly point in its orbit because it is on the opposite
side of the Earth from the Sun, which (because it's summer) is near the
northern extremity of its apparent path across the heavens.

This may be odder than it seems; after all, it means that the Moon does
not orbit the Earth in its equatorial plane, which you would expect of
a satellite; rather, it orbits it near the ecliptic (about 5 degrees
off). This leads to various effects such as the precession of the
equinoxes, the fact that solar eclipses don't always happen at the
equinoxes, etc.

--
Brian Tung <brian@xxxxxxx>
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
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.

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