Eli5: how do the Moon’s rise and set hours compare to the Sun’s? Is there a logic?

Question

The Moon doesn’t necessarily rise at sunset and go down at sunrise, sometimes it’s up during the day. So what does it do? Are those times varying depending on it’s phase? Is it random? Are they always the same for a same phase? Do they vary across the year like the Sun’s do?

In: 8

Answer 1

The Moon rotates around the Earth pretty slowly – one rotation every 29.5 days. This means that sometimes the Moon is on the same side of Earth and the Sun (that’s a new moon, by the way), so it rises with the Sun and sets with the Sun. Two weeks later, the Moon is on the side of the Earth opposite the Sun (that’s a full moon) – so it rises when the Sun sets, and sets when the Sun rises. Then of course there’s everything in between, so the Moon might rise at noon and set at midnight, or vice versa.