Why Is There Moon In The Morning - "Around the Earth in 28 Days"

As I was on the way out to a friend's house on June 1, 2010 morning, I saw an image of moon. Why is it I can see moon in the morning. The sky is so clear and bright.

All about moon - Around the Earth in 28 Days:

The important part is to remember that the Moon has a 28 day orbit around the Earth. From there you need to think about what that really means. Where are you? Where is the Moon? A little visualization and you will understand where you see the Moon in the sky each day. It is important to see the whole cycle of one orbit, understand that and everything should make sense.

For sake of description let’s start with the few days each orbit the Moon is passing between us and the Sun, because it is near the Sun you cannot see the Moon lost in the Sun’s glare. Also the side facing us is facing away from the sun, the nightime side (or dark side) of the Moon, is in darkness and likewide unseen. We call that period New Moon.

Most of the time the Moon does not pass directly in front of the Sun, but above or below it. On those rare occasions it does pass in front of the Sun we get treated to a solar eclipse. Partial eclipses, when the moon blocks part of the sun, are fairly common, about once a year. Total eclipses, when the lineup is perfect, happen about once a year somewhere in the world if you are willing to travel. If you wait in one spot it may be centuries before you see one.

After New Moon the Moon moves into the evening sky, first as a thin crescent, but each night a little more lit up as it moves out from between us and the Sun and around the other side. This is known as a Waxing Moon and will be what you see in the evening sky each night over a period of two weeks after New Moon.

Seven days after New Moon you will see a half illuminated Moon high in the afternoon or evening sky, this is First Quarter. By this time the moon is one quarter is way around one orbit. It makes no difference if the moon is in a daytime sky or a nighttime sky, you can see it either way as long as it is overhead.

Past First Quarter the moon becomes more than half illuminated, this is called a Gibbous Moon. You have to love these old words that have been handed down to us from generations of moon watchers. The phases of the moon used to be very important to farmers and fishermen who timed their lives by the Moon’s cycles. When to plant, when to harvest, when the fish were schooling... important questions if your livelyhood depended on it.

14 days after New Moon the moon is directly away from the Sun, fully illuminated and we call it Full Moon. During this time the moon rises right around sunset and sets near sunrise just as you would expect as they are about oppositely positioned in the sky.

After Full Moon the Moon moves into the morning sky on its way to meet the Sun again, each day becoming a little less lit up as we see more of the night side of the Moon. This is called a Waning Moon and this is what you see in the morning sky, starting with a Gibbous Moon and gradually becoming a Crescent Moon as you watch each day.

To summarize... For about two weeks after New Moon you will see a Waxing Moon in the afternoon and evening sky. Full Moon then marks the halfway point in the cycle. For the following two weeks you will see a Waning Moon in the morning sky at which point we get back to New Moon and the cycle starts again.

All of this is complicated by the turning of the Earth each day. You have to remember you are on a giant merry-go-round called the Earth, and someone has given it a good spin so that we go once around each 24 hours. While the Moon orbits in its slow stately 28 day orbit you are watching it go wizzing by once a day. It takes a little stretching of the mind, but if you think about where the Moon is and where you are it might start to make sense.

The real trick is to see the whole pattern, this merely takes being observant and noting where the Moon is each day, so that you become familiar with it movements. Maybe write down where you see the Moon each day, or even draw the phase each day over the course of a month. If you do you will be several steps ahead of so many of our fellow citizens who have become detached from the natural cycles around them and have forgotten that sense of wonder it takes to learn about our world. I always feel connected to the cosmos each day I walk across a supermarket parking lot and see the Moon in the sky.