Why is the moon always visible at night?

[davidortenn79]

Ok, I've been trying to figure this out in my mind.  It doesn't make sense to me.  If it's a clear night and you look up, the moon is always visible.  Might be a partial moon, might be a full moon,  It might be way low in the sky it might be way high... but it's always there.  

So, the earth orbits the sun.  The moon orbits the earth.  But, when you look up, the moon is always in different spots of the sky.  But, not once, have I looked up, had there be no clouds, and go, where's the moon?  Oh, it must be orbiting earth and it's just on the other side of earth right now.  Sometimes you can see it during the day.  But, it only makes sense, if it's orbiting earth, that quite often, you'd look up and it wouldn't be there because it's on the sunny side of earth at the moment.  Or is the moon just "programmed" to stay on the dark side of earth all the time?  That doesn't make sense.

Edited April 8 by davidortenn79

[wulfrun]

Your mistake is thinking the moon is always visible at night (if clear), if you think so it can only be a coincidence of when you looked.

The moon makes a complete orbit in (roughly) 30 days, so there are many hours of darkness where the moon has either not yet risen or it has already set. At new moon, the moon is in the same position (roughly) as the sun, so it rises and sets at about the same time as the sun - no moonlight all night. At full moon, the moon is (roughly) opposite the sun and as ones sets, the other rises - full moonlight all night. All the "in betweens" exist too. All of that needs to include "roughly" because it's not quite as exact as that but the result is still correct.

[LukeTheNuke]

The moon isn't always visible at night! Some nights, I've gone out to observe after the moon has set.

You can see average moonrise and moonset times here:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_phase#Principal_and_intermediate_phases_of_the_Moon

[Cornelius Varley]

Interestingly, you ask this question today when sometime during the day the moon will pass between the Sun and Earth causing a solar eclipse and will be visible in North America.

[Knighty2112]

This might help to visualise the orbit around the earth, and its phases etc.

https://ematusov.soe.udel.edu/science/moon-phases/index.htm

[Gfamily]

Look up tonight and I guarantee your won't see the moon*

My brother spent a few years working in a rural village in India, back in the 80s before the village had an electrical connection.

Every month had a 'social' couple of weeks, when people would sit out under the moon and play, make music and chat, followed by a second couple of weeks when the moon only rose after midnight, and it was too dark to sit out.

There are probably 2 or 3 days a month when the moon is too close to the sun to guarantee being able to see it even as a very slender crescent as the sun sets or rises.

* Unless you're in the part of the globe that can see the solar eclipse, in which case you can see the moon in front of the sun, but that'll be in the daytime.

 

[Elp]

As a primarily imager I'd agree this is true, and it's out when there's no cloud, and it's by the target you want to image...

[davidortenn79]

I figure I'm in a real life Truman Show.  You all probably sent a message to the producers to not queue the moon to be lit up tonight.  

No, I know I'm someone with a pre-K knowledge of astronomy trying to convince intelligent astronomers that this stuff doesn't make sense... lol

[CentaurZ]

David, half of the time the Moon is above your horizon. The other half of the time it is not.

Nights that you see the Moon can be memorable. That's particularly true for a Full Moon, which is visible all night.

Nights that that you do not see the Moon may be easily forgotten.

A waning crescent Moon rises after midnight. A waxing crescent Moon sets before midnight.

 

Edited April 9 by CentaurZ

[Paz]

I think the suggestion put forward makes no sense, but for skeptics there's many ways to test the suggestion for yourself.

One would be when you are looking up at the moon, keep looking at it and don't take your eyes of it. I predict that you will see it eventually move below the horizon and at that moment it's not "there" in your sky any more, and that disproves the suggestion that the moon is always visible at night.

You might have to wait many hours but you can save time by waiting until the moon is close to the western horizon before starting your vigil.

[Paul M]

There are only a few days around New Moon when the Moon isn't visible.

So at new moon its in the same bit of sky as the sun. 

As the moon goes round earth it gets further away from the sun as seen in our sky. At full moon its opposite the sun and ocassionally slips into earth's shadow, giving a lunar eclipse.

So between new and full moon the moon tends to be in the evening sky. After full, it gets increasingly further into the morning sky.

So, yeah, the moon is almost visible every night for some amount of time. But its also visible in the daytime sky almost as frequently. You'll only see a full moon in a daytime sky as it rises and sets.

 

[barkis]

Our moon is a wonderful body and one can never tire of observing it, whether with naked  eye, or  with binoculars or telescope.
Under the right seeing conditions, and a good instrument, some breathtaking scenes can be enjoyed. Many superb images of our neighbour have
been created by SGL lunar imagers, and rival some taken by larger Observatories throughout the World.

Of course the Moons gravity has an influence over the earths Ocean Tides too. Solar Eclpses too are a joy to see.|
It seems also that humans are getting closer to visit the moon and stay for periods of time to do deeper studies of it's make up.
Finding water there is  an essential  task.
Ron.

 

[Carbon Brush]

But its also visible in the daytime sky almost as frequently.

The post from @Paul M reminds me of a funny (I thought so) question I overheard from a nearby garden.

It was nice morning, and plenty of folks were in their gardens. It happened to be a day when the moon was very visible in daylight.
A nearby house had visitors with loud voices - or they conversing at opposite ends of the garden. I'm not sure..
Question on from one (mature/adult) visitor to another on the object in the sky 'Is that the moon?'
Make of that what you will😁. Or are there other rocky looking big objects in the sky that I have missed all these years🤔

[Mandy D]

4 hours ago, Carbon Brush said:

'Is that the moon?'

I recall seeing on the web, the following text quoted as verbatim as I can recall:

"Where does the Moon go when it is not in our sky? Nobody knows!"

Have you seen references to Nibiru near the Sun when they have lens flare in photographs? They think they have discovered a huge new planet that scientists are unaware of. "And don't tell me it's lens flare, because this is different!"

[Earl]

Oh for those cloudless nights when at dusk the moon is just setting and the stars are out in thier glory!

Edited April 22 by Earl

[wulfrun]

47 minutes ago, Mandy D said:

I recall seeing on the web, the following text quoted as verbatim as I can recall:

"Where does the Moon go when it is not in our sky? Nobody knows!"

Doh! Everyone knows, it goes under the (flat) earth, silly 😛

[Mr Spock]

We've been to the moon, why can't we go to the sun? We can go at night when its dark.

[M40]

All I know is that the moon has cost me a small fortune. The lady wife bought me a 200p dob more than a couple of years ago and the first thing I said was, gosh....look at how fast everything moves......ooooh look, a tracking mount......