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If you observe our moon, over the course of a night it appears to rise in the east and set in the west. However if you observe it over the course of a month you will see that each night it will be further toward the east. You will see that the moon is actually traveling from west to east around the earth. It only appears to rise in the east and set in the west just as the sun appears to rise in the east and set in the west. The sun actually isn't moving and the moon as well isn't moving in the direction it appears to be. It takes a month though to go around the earth from west to east. It does it so slowly that each night it doesn't seem to move except in the direction opposite to the earths rotation. Phobos travels west to east also. However it orbits Mars in only 7 hours. So Phobos appears to move in the direction it actually is moving. Thus appears to be doing exactly what it is doing: rising in the west and setting in the east.

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12y ago

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