The Fascinating Truth About the Moon's Monthly Orbit Around the Earth

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the Moon's orbit around the Earth, specifically addressing misconceptions about the duration of the Moon's orbit and its relationship to the day/night cycle on Earth.

Discussion Character

  • Conceptual clarification, Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses surprise that the Moon takes a month to orbit the Earth, initially believing it occurred daily and questioning how night is formed.
  • Another participant explains that the Earth rotates every 24 hours, leading to day and night, and clarifies that the Moon's orbit is unrelated to this cycle, taking approximately 28 days to complete.
  • A further comment notes that the Moon can also be visible during the daytime.
  • A correction to the thread title is made, indicating a focus on the topic's clarity.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the mechanics of the Earth’s rotation and the Moon’s orbit, but there is a lack of consensus on the initial misunderstanding regarding the Moon's visibility and its relation to night.

Contextual Notes

The discussion does not delve into the specifics of the Moon's phases or the exact mechanics of visibility during the day, leaving some assumptions unaddressed.

Howers
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I had no idea it took a month for the moon to orbit the earth. I thought it happened daily, and that's what gave us night. How do we get night?
 
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The Earth rotates in 24 hours. (Actually, a little less, but that's unimportant here.) One side of the Earth is exposed to sunlight at any given time; the other side is in darkness. Thus, we have night and day.

The Moon revolves around the Earth once every 28 days, and is unrelated to the Earth's day/night cycle. If it revolved around the Earth once per day, you'd see the Moon's phase go from full to new and back to full every single day.

- Warren
 
One more thing: You can see the Moon during daytime.
 
Thread title corrected.
 

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