Everyone is wondering why the Moon has changed its position in the sky. We asked an astronomer what's happening
The entire Threads platform is discussing what happened to the Moon. Take a closer look: if it used to be vertical, now it seems to lie horizontally above the horizon. We asked an astrophysicist to explain what happened.
Photo: Creative Commons
Social media users are discussing why the Moon suddenly changed its position in the sky. Instead of vertical, it now appears horizontal:
"Am I the only one seeing this, or are there many of us? The Moon used to be different."
"It's not the first time we've seen this in Belarus, and we're still surprised, but we don't remember it lying so horizontally before."
"You mean the Moon has always been rotated like it is now? A photo from 2021, who are you fooling? I'm waiting for an explanation."
Astrophysicist Ivan Siutsou explained to Nasha Niva what actually happened. The Moon itself doesn't shine — we see the Moon in the sky because the Sun illuminates it. The Sun, Earth, and Moon move in space along their own trajectories. And for the Moon to appear "lying down," these objects must be in a particular position relative to each other.
For an observer on Earth, the Sun moves across the sky in an approximately circular path, but due to the Earth's axial tilt of 23.5°, this path changes its angle relative to the horizon in certain sections. Therefore, the Sun does not always follow the same trajectory in the sky: for example, in summer it rises higher in the sky than in winter.
Now, in the days following the spring equinox (March 22), this trajectory in our hemisphere is the steepest. In the west, it stands almost vertically to the horizon, which allows the Sun to illuminate the Moon from below.
"The Moon can also deviate slightly, as it rotates at a tilt. And now two things have coincided: both the Moon and the Sun have maximally deviated from their usual trajectories. That's why the lunar crescent has changed its position and become more horizontal, like at the equator," explains the scientist.
But soon the Moon will return to its usual position.
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