I understand less than before I read this article.
When has anyone ever noticed a full moon becoming less full during the night? Not that the effect doesn't happen, but it is minor. This effect also occurs during first and last quarter, despite what the article claims.
And what on earth is the first plot? A moon that rises to its zenith doesn't become half lit. And is the dark coloured part li?, Where is the 3/4 moon?
> And what on earth is the first plot? A moon that rises to its zenith doesn't become half lit
If it rose to the zenith, it would. This is the paradox.
Huh ? You do realise that the apparent motion of the moon over a given day is because of the rotation of the earth, and that the changes in the relative positions of the sun and moon, and hence the lighting conditions of the moon, are negligible ?
But then it wouldn't be sunset anymore. I understood the whole article to be about things you can see at sunset.
But a full moon can't rise to it's zenith at sunset.
But if it did, then it would be a half moon.
Of course not, because the sun is much further away than the moon.
If the moon is directly above you, and the sun is directly in front of you, they are at right angles from you.