Does the Moon move farther east each night?

Answer 1

The appearance that the moon is changing shape is actually just an illusion.

The 'shape' of the moon depends on where the moon is in reference to the Sun & Earth.

The light is reflected from the Earth and hits the moon, which lets us see it. All the while, the moon is orbiting the earth, and the earth is orbiting the sun. This is why different amounts of light hit the moon each day.

Since we are all orbiting at the same speed, there is a cycle. This cycle is in tune with a woman's menstrual cycle.

Answer 2

Yes, it does. The backdrop of stars is always changing no matter where you are on the moon. The moon orbits the earth, and along with the earth it orbits the sun. There is nothing that fixes the view of stars from any vantage point on the moon. Whether or not you see the earth is another matter; if you are on the far side of the moon, you will never see the earth in the moon sky; if you are on the near side, you always will see the earth. Because of something called 'libration', you would see the earth seem to bounce a little back and forth. There are places along the edge of the earth-side face of the moon where you would see the earth seem to move up and dip down at the horizon, as if it wants to rise-- but it never moves all the way across the sky.

Answer 3

The moon does not change every night, however, the apparent shape of moon changes every night due to the fact that moon is travelling in its orbit around the Earth and this accounts for the part of the illuminated portion of moon to be seen by the observers on Earth to change every night.

Answer 4

From the time of the new moon, the moon rises an hour later each night, waxing from a thin crescent to half moon shape to (in about a fortnight or two weeks) a full moon. From the full moon it begins to wane, and once it reaches the new moon stage again, a full lunar cycle has been completed (about 28 days). When you see the moon waxing and waning as described above, you are actually seeing the lunar day and lunar night unfolding on the moon, just the way day and night happen on earth. But we always see the same face of the moon, and the whole day-night cycle on the moon is one month long-- not 24 hours as it is on earth.

Answer 5

No. The Moon orbits the Earth in 28 days, while the Earth orbits the Sun in 365 days. So the lunar cycle doesn't divide evenly into the solar year; one year is 12.5 "moons".

Last night (November 3, 2009) was the Full Moon. One year from now, November 3, 2010, the Moon will be a waning crescent, with the New Moon coming 2 days later.

Answer 6

Yes, the Moon moves eastward in its orbit around the Earth, so it appears to shift slightly to the east each night as it moves across the sky.

Answer 7

yes, but not its shape although it might appear different every night.

Answer 8

No. The side of the moon that is seen is always the same side of the moon

Answer 9

The Moon's position in the sky is constantly changing. It will appear to be in the same place again in about 19 years.

Answer 10

The moon rotates upon it's axis at exactly the same speed as it orbits the earth, so the same side of the moon is always facing the earth.