NOAA Photo Library
April 5, 2006
Moonshine
"It was nearly midnight, and the full moon was just rising over the ocean." What's wrong with this statement?
Adapted from Visual Brainstorms, a brainteaser game from ThinkFun (www.thinkfun.com).
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When does the full moon rise?
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The full moon rises at sunset, not at midnight.
What is actually happening is that when the moon is on the opposite of the sun in relation to Earth (coming up while the sun is going down), sunlight from the entire moon's surface is reflected back towards Earth, so we see the moon as a full round ball of light. When the moon comes up on our horizon at midnight, only half the light of the moon reflects towards Earth; the rest of the lighted surface faces away from Earth. Thus, you would see a half moon rising at midnight, not a full moon.
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