Understanding the Sun and Moon: Why Can You See Them Together?

Jakarta –

Usually the Sun is visible during the day and the Moon at night. However, the fact is that the Moon can also appear in the afternoon/evening at the same time as the Sun. So the Moon and Sun can be seen at the same time.

Reporting from the Washington Post page, from Earth, the Moon is actually always in one part of the sky, just not always visible. This is because sunlight that is too bright can drown out the light from the Moon. However, when the Moon gets good sunlight, the Moon will be visible during the day or evening.

Moon Rotation

The Earth always rotates on its axis in one day around the Sun and is called the Earth’s rotation process. Likewise, the rotation process also occurs on the Moon.

Reporting from an article entitled Why can you see the sun and the moon at the same time? by Orsola de Marco on the Macquarie University page in 2020, the Moon rotates in its rotation while circling the Earth approximately once every 28 days. The moon is a rock and does not have or reflect its own light. So when we can see the Moon in the sky it is the process of the Moon reflecting light from the Sun.

To find out how the Moon looks is to observe the Moon’s phase process. Especially in the relationship between the Moon, Sun and Earth in each phase.

Moon Phase Process

During the new Moon phase, the Moon will be between the Sun and Earth with the side of the Moon that receives sunlight facing away from the Earth. This means that when you are in this position, the Moon will not be visible because the sunlight is reflected away from the side of the Earth.

If the Moon continues to orbit the Earth away from the Sun, then this process causes a crescent Moon because only part of the Moon’s surface receives light.
Meanwhile, the Moon will be visible or appear in the afternoon/evening at the same time as the Sun, when the Moon is in a position farther from the Sun. However, if the Moon is not too far from the Sun, then only part of the Moon’s surface will be visible during the day/evening for a short time. So the Moon will be visible well during the day/evening when it is far enough from the Sun.

“The best time to see the Moon during the day is when it is in the first and last quarter phases at a distance of 90 degrees from the Sun, because that’s when we can see the bright half of the Moon,” said Cheyenne Polius, founder of the National Astronomical Association in the Caribbean in the Washington Post. .

Reporting from Universe Today, an interesting fact about the Moon phase process is that the Moon will rise about an hour later every day. However, the full moon will actually rise earlier before dusk and set before sunrise.

Then, if the Moon is behind the Earth towards the Sun, there will be a full Moon because the entire surface is illuminated by the Sun. However, this phase only occurs at night.

Watch the video “Appearance of the Earth and Moon from India’s Aditya-1 Spacecraft”

(nwk/nwk)

2023-09-29 13:00:00
#moon #sun #visible #time #sky