People have been left mind-blown after leaning why the Moon can be seen in the sky during the day.
It doesn’t happen every day, but you may have spotted from time to time the Moon dwelling up above in the middle of the day, sometimes against a clear blue sky.
Most of us associate the Moon as a clear telltale sign it’s bedtime, so it can be a bit disconcerting when it pops up before the Sun has even gone in for the night.
But there’s actually a scientific explanation as to why the Moon sometimes lingers in the day time, which is blowing some people’s minds.
In November 2023, ‘post-apocalyptic warlord’, Stew Peters, shared an image of the Moon in the sky on Twitter, writing: “This full Moon is out in the middle of the day. That’s not supposed to happen.”
However, that’s not entirely true and is a phenomenon that has occurred since… well, forever.
Planetary geologist and NASA scientist Sarah Noble explained that most people hold a misconception that the Moon is only visible at night because of the way it’s portrayed in movies and books.
In a video on YouTube, the scientist added: “Even the weatherman uses the Sun as a symbol for day and the Moon for night.”
Why do we sometimes see the Moon during the day?
In actuality, the Moon spends ‘almost as much as time in the daytime sky’ as it does the night.
What changes is how we’re able to see it as the Moon has to be in the ‘right’ part of the sky.
This boils down to how close the Moon is to our home, Earth, and how it orbits around us.
The phase of the Moon itself is also a factor, not forgetting the season and how clear the sky is on one particular day to the next.
After all, it’s difficult to see even the Sun when it’s blowing a gale and stormy clouds roll in.
Noble continued: “During a full Moon, the Moon is opposite the Sun in the sky. That’s why we can see the full face of the Moon reflecting sunlight.”
However, ‘as the Earth rotates,’ the Moon rises ‘just as the Sun sets’ on ‘one day of the month’.
Noble added: “In the days before a full Moon, if you look in the eastern sky, you can find the almost full Moon rising before the sun sets. And the days after a full Moon, you can look in the western sky and find the Moon setting after the Sun has come up.”
But if you want to catch a glimpse of the Moon chilling in the daytime sky, Noble says you’ll have to be fast.
The scientist said she has even made a ‘game’ of daytime Moon-spotting by timing her daily bike rides to try and spot it, but has to adjust her times by around 50 minutes per day as the Moon ‘marches through its phases’.
She concluded: “So keep your eyes peeled.”
