Joe: The moon always stays in the ecliptic, like the planets. In winter, the ecliptic is north of the equator, in summer, south. That's why summertime oppositions always find the planets low in the sky. Now, the moon traverses the entire ecliptic every month, but near full it is always opposite the sun. Look at your charts and see where on the ecliptic it happened to be sitting when you noticed it...it will be well north of the equator. I'll give you partial credit for the 'solstice' answer. Chuck --- Joe Bauman <bau@desnews.com> wrote:
This morning my wife noticed that the moon seemed awfully far north when it set. Question for the group: how often does it get this far north? I tried to say it had something to do with the winter solstice, but she pointed out the solstice was several weeks ago. So am I still right, or is there some other odd reason I don't understand? Thanks, Joe
Joe Bauman science & military reporter Deseret News bau@desnews.com (801) 237-2169
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