Example #2
Do the Sun and the Moon ever approach each other in the sky?
Let's take a look at the figure shown in slide #14.
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Time since full moon: |
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This figure shows the positions of the Sun and Moon in the sky over the course of a month. It starts at the full moon, with the Sun overhead at noon and the Moon overhead twelve hours later. As the days pass, the Moon slowly eases around the side of the Earth.
Does the Moon ever catch up with the Sun? Do the Sun and the Moon ever approach each other in the sky?
Adjust the "time since full Moon" control to the middle of its range, near to the new Moon phase, and check the positions of the Sun and Moon.
The full moon occurs when the Sun and the Moon lie on opposite sides of the Earth. Two weeks later, in the new moon phase, the Moon will have circled around the Earth and caught up with the Sun, lying in front of it in the day sky.
Every month, during the new moon phase, the Sun and the Moon will lie near to each other in the sky.