You find yourself on a different planet that is almost exactly like Earth. The s

Question

You find yourself on a different planet that is almost exactly like Earth. The star that this planet orbits appears to rise in the East and set in the West, just like our Sun. The only difference is that this planet has two moons. Suppose that this Sun has just set 30 minutes ago. You are inside your house and your friend runs in and tells you, You have got to see this! There is a full moon and a crescent moon in the sky! Where in the sky are these two moons? The crescent moon must be in the Western sky. When the Moon is in a crescent phase it is always close to the Sun in the sky, and the Sun just set in the West. The full moon would have to be over in the Eastern part of the sky. This is because the shadow of the Earth is being cast on the crescent moon. So the shadow of the earth is located in the western sky. In order to have a full moon, the moon has to be outside of the Earth s shadow. So it must be in the east somewhere. The crescent moon must be in the western sky. This is because most of the sun-lit side of the Moon is facing away from us. That can only happen when the moon is close to the Sun in the sky. The full moon can really be almost anywhere in the sky. This second moon has a different orbit and is likely at a different distance than the crescent moon. So it could be up high in the sky, in the east, or even next to the other crescent moon, It is a different moon so the perspective can be totally different. The crescent moon would have to be low in East because the crescent phase is caused by the shadow of the Earth on the moon and the shadow of the Earth has to be opposite the Sun, which just set in the West. The full moon could be anywhere, in the sky, as long as it is not in the East where the Earth s shadow is located. The full moon is over in the eastern sky. To see the entire sun-lit side of the moon it has to be opposite the sun in the sky. The sun just went down in the west so the full moon has to be the east. The crescent moon must be in the west. The crescent phase is caused when most of the sun-lit side of the moon is pointing away from us. This can only happen when the moon is near the sun in the sky.

Explanation / Answer

The full moon is over in the western sky.To see the entire sun-lit side of the moon it has to be opposite the sun in the sky.The sun just went down in the west so the full moon has to be in east.The crescent moon must be in the west.The crescent Phase is caused when most of the sun lit side of the moon is pointing away from us.this can only happen when the moon is near the sun in the sky.

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