I live in Australia and when the moon isn’t full it always appears to fill up from the bottom up. So a new moon looks like a croissant with the curved side facing down. But on northern hemisphere flags like Turkey for example it appears as a croissant standing up with the curve facing left. Does the moon appear to wax and wane from top to bottom or left to right in different parts of the world?
In: 2168
Yes, it appears upside in each hemisphere relative to the other.
Imagine drawing a circle on the center of the ceiling of your room (easy if you have a skylight or similar!). Now stand against one wall and look up at it. You’re looking up at an angle, so visually one side will appear “higher” – ie, the side closer to directly above you. Now move to the opposite wall – the side of the circle that is “higher” is opposite to before. But it’s the same logic – it’s the side closest to directly above you.
The moon is the same – just very very far above everyone on the surface. The equator is (very approximately) like standing under it, and the further north or south you travel, the more you see the moon from an angle.
Latest Answers