Why does the sun look like it moves across the sky throughout the da?

Answer 1

The sun appears to move because the Earth is turning around on its axis (the North and South Poles) at a rate of 15 degrees per hour, giving the impression of the SUN 'moving' (as well as the stars, planets, etc...) to everything that is NOT on the Earth.

The Earth (from a Bird's Eye view of our Solar System), moves in a Counter-Clockwise fashion around the Sun, while also ROTATING on its axis in a Counter-Clockwise way (if looking down from above - the same Bird's Eye View mentioned above).

With Respect to the SUN APPEARING TO MOVE, it is ONLY an EFFECT, since we are observers from EARTH, and do not feel the movement of the Earth under our feet; therefore it APPEARS that the SUN and STARS (etc...) are moving and we are staying still (But again this ONLY APPEARS to be the case since we are Observing them from Earth.

This appears to be so not because the Sun is moving but because our Earth is rotating on its axis. The Sun appears to rise in the east and set in the west because the spinning earth is turning your eyes toward the opposite direction as time goes on.

When viewed from a merry-go-round, the buildings appear to move; but it is actually you and the merry-go-round that is moving. The buildings are standing still.

Answer 2

because the earth is spinning on an axis, like you said, it only appears to move across the sky. stand in the centre of a room and turn on the spot, the room appears to be spinning around you (with a little imagination and ignoring that you can feel yourself turning!) now think bigger scale where u are the earth and the sun is the walls around u

Answer 3

the sun does not move across the sky at all, the Earth revolves around the sun, making it look like the sun moves acros the sky.

Actually, it is the earth rotating on it's axis that makes the sun appear to move across the sky.

EDIT by iswmhamc891

Answer 4

the sun does not move across the sky . it just appears to be moving across the sky because the earth is rotating. this creates the illusion that the sun is moving when it is pretty much stationary

Answer 5

During the night, the Moon appears to move (along with the stars but not quite as fast [more about that below] due to the rotation of the Earth, the same as the Sun appears to move across the sky during the day. The moon appears in different places on successive nights because the Moon orbits around the Earth once every 27.3 days. Each night it appears about 13 degrees further east among the background stars than the previous night.

If you have a good telescope you may be able to see both these motions in a short time.

Answer 6

Have you ever ridden on a merry-go-round? While it is spinning, it looks like the world around you is turning - but it is really the merry-go-round spinning while the world is standing still.

Except, the world really IS spinning, and we're on it. So it looks like the Sun and Moon and stars are rising and setting - when really it is the Earth spinning once every day.

Answer 7

It is because we are so small, that it looks like it is moving across the sky, when really, WE are moving around it.It is like if the we trying to find the preimter of a the sun because we were walking or driving around the sun.

Answer 8

When you are on a train, it looks as though the country side is moving past you. When your train passes another train, it can be difficult to tell whether that train is moving or is still.

Imagine you are on a giant merry-go-round. How do you tell whether you are moving, or whether the world simply revolves around you? When you are in the restaurant at the top of the Space Needle in Seattle, it looks like the city is slowly rotating around you. You cannot feel yourself moving.

If you look at the stars through a big telescope that does not have tracking, it looks like they move across your field of view. They appear to move the same direction the sun moves across the sky. It is pretty obvious then it is the earth that is spinning, and not the sun spinning around the earth.

Answer 9

Have you ever ridden on a carousel? While you're riding on the wooden horse, you feel as if you are sitting still, while the world spins around you. Same illusion here; the Earth is big, and you don't FEEL it spinning; it FEELS as if you are standing still. But SOMETHING is moving, and so we see the Sun rising and setting.

Except that the Sun doesn't rise and set; the Sun is in the center. It's the Earth spinning. We don't feel it spinning, so if "feels like" the Sun is moving. But it's really us.

Answer 10

It is because the Earth is rotating. If you stand in one place and start turning around, all objects around you appear to be moving. If you walk around an object while also turning around, you are doing what the Earth does in relation to the sun. We rotate and we also orbit the sun, so the sun appears to be constantly moving. It is actually moving too, but the appearance of its movement is more down to our movements than its movement.