subject: Disappearance Of The Moon: Why And How? [print this page] There is some fundamental information to acquire prior to understanding how the moon phases work. First and foremost, take note that the moon rises as we see due to the never ending rotation of the Earth, orbiting the Sun. The moon will repeat its process of appearing from the East then disappearing down the West everyday although it does not occur at the same time. This cycle of repetition resembles those of the Sun or other stars basically for the same reason the Earth rotates towards the East and also spins on its axis. The movement causes the pull of celestial objects then automatically forces them away in time. The concept is no different from the merry-go-round.
However, the theoretical cyclic movement of the Earth is not the only important notion. Perhaps the more important issue here concerning the moon phases is why the moon often appears only later during the night or the day. The moon moves towards the East surrounding the Earth, in almost a months time. During the occurrence of full moon, the moon is situated in opposite direction to the Sun, separating by the Earth in the middle. From our view during the sunset, the Moon actually rises and makes full reflection of the sunlight onto the Earths surface. Then it goes unseen across the sky when the Sun rises.
However, this might not come in a fixed periodic cycle. The moon phases may undergo changes time by time. At times the Moon might only appear after you go bed. Probably seven days after the full phase of the moon, meaning during the last quarter, the Moon will rise in the shape of a D and this can only be seen after midnight then remaining in the sky till noon. If viewed from above, the Earth, Moon and Sun are actually in a triangular position. Nevertheless, due to the strong sunlight striking onto the Earth, the surface of the moon is not illuminated. Approximately a week later when the moon inches along its orbit, it will come to a center position between the Earth and the Sun. This is what we name the New Moon and the moon is not noticeable from the Earths surface.
