Why is the moon hiding from me?
I've already been on quite a few overnight flights, but so far, I never saw the moon. I saw stars, other planes, city lights, but never the moon. Obviously, the moon should still be there, but somehow it's always hiding from me.
Why can't I see the moon from a passenger plane?
I have a few thoughts, but no idea if true:
- The small window of an airplane restricts my view massively. Therefore, it's just always out of sight
- It depends where you fly (which latitude). Some latitudes might limited direct view sight and so far I was just unlucky.
- I was really always sitting on the wrong side of the plane.
Best Answer
Another reason the moon is often out of sight, because it's in the sky at the same time as the Sun!
Contrary to popular child's opinion, while the Sun does define daytime, the moon is not synonymous with night time.
As we know, the Earth rotates once every 24 hours. The Moon orbits the earth once every 28 days. That means that during each of those orbits, 14 of the days are spent on the Sun-ward side of the planet. Some of these days it's visible during daylight hours, but as it passes closer in front of the Sun (occasionally causing eclipses depending on the exact orbit), the Sun's intensity outshines any reflected light from the Moon so you don't see it. On these same Sun-ward days, you won't see it at night either, because it's simply below the horizon on the wrong side of the planet.
Pictures about "Why is the moon hiding from me?"
What causes the moon to not be visible?
From Earth, the Moon's surface looks dark because the illuminated side is facing away from Earth. As our Moon continues its orbit counterclockwise around Earth (viewed from above the north pole), more and more of the illuminated part of the Moon becomes visible to us, until it reaches the \u201cfull Moon\u201d stage.When the moon is not visible it is called?
When the moon is not visible at night in a clear sky, the moon is called new moon. Shape of visible portion of the moon cyclically changes throughout the month. This is called as moon cycle.What causes the moon illusion?
"When the moon is near the horizon, the ground and horizon make the moon appear relatively close. Because the moon is changing its apparent position in depth while the light stimulus remains constant, the brain's size-distance mechanism changes its perceived size and makes the moon appear very large.Why is the moon invisible from Earth?
I mean, the alignment between the sun, moon, and Earth leaves nothing to look upon. Hence, from our earthly point of view; what is seen is complete darkness on the surface of the moon. For this reason, the invisible phase of the moon or invisible moon is also known as Dark Moon.Why is the moon following me?
More answers regarding why is the moon hiding from me?
Answer 2
You must know from which direction moon will rise today and in which direction you are sitting in the plane...
This might be helpful for you... http://www.moongiant.com/phase/today/
Answer 3
To paraphrase Dirty Harry, "If you've never seen the moon while on a flight, you’ve got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do you, punk?"
Seriously, except for a reduced field of view (and bad luck), there is absolutely no reason for you not to see the moon while on a flight.
Answer 4
I've seen the Moon quite often during flights, but you must do an effort to look in the right direction. You can try the Heavens-Above website, enter some coordinates the plane will be at during the flight, and study the star chart.
From more than 10 km altitude, you'll be able to see a crescent Moon very easily during broad daylight conditions. Also Venus is far more easily seen from the plane than from the ground during broad daylight conditions. Even Jupiter is visible with some effort from that altitude during midday, while from the ground it's extremely difficult.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: RF._.studio, Ryutaro Tsukata, Jessica Lewis Creative, Александр