Why does the moon move further across the sky every day?

Question

I’m talking about how one night it will be in one spot in the sky, and the next night at the same time it will be to the side of where it was the day before.

In: 0

Answer 1

Because the Moon is orbiting the Earth.

The daily movement of the Moon is because of the Earth’s rotation. The Earth takes 24 hours to complete a rotation.

The Moon’s orbit around the Earth is 28 days, so longer, but short enough that you can notice the difference from day to day. By the time 24 hours have gone by, the Moon has moved ahead in its orbit a bit, so instead of being in the same spot it’s a little bit further ahead