What is the Moon doing?

The (fairly) simple answer

The Moon rises and sets every day, like the Sun. But the Sun always rises in the morning and sets in
the evening; the Moon does it at a different time every day.

At New Moon, the Moon lies in the same direction as the Sun. But the Moon is orbiting around the
Earth; every day, it moves eastwards (further left from the Sun) by about 12 degrees. This means
that it increasingly lags behind the Sun, by about 50 minutes a day.

At New Moon, the Moon rises in the morning; it's at its highest, in the south, in the middle of the
day and it sets in the evening - just like the Sun. Of course this is academic, since we can't see the
Moon when it's New!

Over the next few days, as the Moon grows to a crescent, it moves further left, and lags more and
more behind the Sun. Soon we can see it in the evenings, still above the western horizon when the
Sun has already set.

By First Quarter, the Moon is one-quarter of the way around its orbit (and half illuminated). It is now
90 degrees to the left of the Sun, and lags behind it by 6 hours. So it rises in the middle of the day,
it's high in the south at sunset, and it sets in the middle of the night.

Over the next few days, as the Moon grows to a gibbous phase (more than half-illuminated), it
continues to lag further behind, rising later each afternoon and setting later each night.

At Full Moon, the Moon is opposite to the Sun - 180 degrees away, and 12 hours behind it. So the
Moon rises as the Sun is setting; it's high in the south at midnight, and it sets in the morning, at
sunrise.

Over the next few days, as it shrinks back to gibbous again, it rises later in the night.

By Last Quarter, the Moon is 270 degrees to the left of the Sun - or 90 degrees to the right of it; and
it lags 18 hours behind the Sun - or it's 6 hours ahead. So it rises in the middle of the night, it's high
in the south at dawn, and it sets in the middle of the day.

Over the next few days, as the Moon shrinks back down to a "crescent", it rises later every night.
Eventually we catch only a glimpse of it at sunrise, coming over the horizon just before the Sun.
(Note that crescent strictly means "growing"; the Moon should really be called decrescent at this
phase.)

And by New Moon, once again we can't see the Moon at all.
If you know how many days it is since New Moon, multiply that by 50 minutes, to find out
approximately how much the Moon is lagging behind the Sun.

(It will only be approximate, because the Moon's orbit is an ellipse rather than a circle, and it doesn't
go round at a constant speed.)

Further complications

So the Moon crosses the sky about 50 minutes later every day. And you might think it would rise 50
minutes later every day, and set 50 minutes later too. But this isn't true - because the Moon doesn't
spend the same length of time above the horizon every day.

The Sun goes through a seasonal variation, once a year.

sun's path

In December and January, the Sun is in the far south of the sky. It rises in the south-east; it spends
only a few hours above the horizon (for northern-hemisphere observers), crossing the sky quite low
down; and it sets in the south-west.

In June and July, the Sun is in the far north of the sky. It rises in the north-east ; it spends many hours
above the horizon (for northern-hemisphere observers), crossing the sky quite high up; and it sets in
the north-west.

The Moon follows the same cycle, but about twelve times faster; it gets round in about a month. The
Moon is in the same place as the Sun at New Moon.

As we have seen, the time at which the Moon crosses the southern sky gets later every day, by
about 50 minutes. So the time at which the Moon rises and sets will also vary from day to day. For
example, when the Moon is heading northwards, it spends longer above the horizon each day. The
time of moonrise gets later (because the Moon crosses the sky later), but it tries to get earlier too
(because it is spending longer above the horizon). The net result can be that the time of moonrise
gets only a few minutes later from one day to the next. Conversely, when the Moon is heading
southwards, the time of moonrise can change by well over an hour from one day to the next.

But we can still predict how high the Moon will cross the sky, how long it will spend above the
horizon, and where it will rise and set, by comparing its behaviour with that of the Sun.

To see how this works for each month, choose one of the links to the left.

And it gets worse....

The Moon doesn't follow the Sun's path exactly. To find out what difference that makes, try clicking
here.

Lunar standstills
The Moon in In 2006 the Moon was at a "major standstill". This page sets out to explain w
January affects the way the Moon appears in the sky.

The Moon in The term "lunar standstill" was apparently coined by the archaeologist Alexan
February book Megalithic Lunar Observatories (Oxford University Press). It is similar
which means "sun standstill"; but in neither case does the moon or the sun act
The Moon in
March Consider the sun first. The earth's rotational axis is tipped to the plane of its o

The Moon in
April

The Moon in
May

The Moon in
June
During the northern-hemisphere summer, the sun appears to be in the norther
The Moon in July
winter it appears to be in the southern half. Its varying position is shown in Fi
The Moon in of 23.4 degrees above and below the celestial equator, at present (these numb
August Megalithic times).

The Moon in
September
The Moon in
October

The Moon in
November

The Moon in
Figure 1 The sun's yearly path.
December
The sun's changing position in the sky controls many aspects of its apparent d
appears at midday; how early it rises and how late it sets; and also exactly wh
and sets. It is the last of these that is probably easiest to observe without instr

At the March equinox (marked   on Figure 1) the sun rises due east an
the following weeks, for observers in north temperate latitudes, the rising and
northwards along the horizon. (At the same time, it rises earlier and sets later
higher in the sky at midday.) This movement slows down and halts at midsum
this sense the sun "stands still" at the midsummer solstice.

So what of the moon? To a first approximation, it's simply a high-speed mimi

But the moon's movement is not quite that simple; its orbit is tilted to the plan
5.1 degrees. So for most of the time, the moon travels either north or south of

only twice in each orbit, at the nodes (marked   and   on Figures

Figure 2 The moon's path in 1995.

Figure 2 shows the moon's path in the year 1995. The ascending node of the m
lay just to the east of the September equinox   ; the descending node

March equinox  . The figure also shows that, in 1995, the extreme no
declinations of the moon were less than those of the sun.

But the nodes of the moon's orbit do not remain fixed: they drift steadily west
taking 18.6 years to make one complete circuit. Two years after Figure 2, in F
nodes had moved westwards from their positions in Figure 2, and lay exactly
result, the moon's motion in declination was reduced to its minimum, between
degrees; this is what Thom calls a minor standstill.

Figure 3 The moon's path in 2005.

By contrast, Figure 3 shows the moon's orbit at the start of 2005: the ascendin
way east of the March equinox, and the descending node was approaching the
the extreme northern and southern declinations of the moon were now greate
When we reached June 2006, the nodes again coincided exactly with the equi
had a major standstill: the moon can reach declinations of +28.6 degrees and

When the moon is near its extreme northern declination, it climbs higher in th
rises and sets further north than usual. Alexander Thom theorised that many a
designed to keep track of the changing positions of the sun and moon, by mon
horizon they rose and set: 

"As I write this (1969), the Moon is coming through a major standstill. O
surprised to see it set and rise almost in the north. A fortnight later one i
how far to the south are the rising and setting points, and how very low
Lunar Observatories, p.22.)

The Moon's node passed the equinox in the middle of June 2006, but the Moo
northerly declination on September 15th 2006, and its extreme behaviour was
couple of years after that. However, as the nodes continue to drift westwards,
"normal". The next minor standstill is in October 2015, and we won't see ano
April 2025.
Lunar standstills

The Moon in January

The Moon in February

The Moon in March

The Moon in April

The Moon in May

The Moon in June

The Moon in July

The Moon in August

The Moon in September

The Moon in October

The Moon in November

The Moon in December

In 2006 the Moon was at a "major standstill". This page sets out to explain what this means, and
how it affects the way the Moon appears in the sky.
The term "lunar standstill" was apparently coined by the archaeologist Alexander Thom, in his 1971
book Megalithic Lunar Observatories (Oxford University Press). It is similar to the term "solstice",
which means "sun standstill"; but in neither case does the moon or the sun actually stand still!

Consider the sun first. The earth's rotational axis is tipped to the plane of its orbit:

diagram

During the northern-hemisphere summer, the sun appears to be in the northern half of the sky;
during winter it appears to be in the southern half. Its varying position is shown in Figure 1. It
reaches extremes of 23.4 degrees above and below the celestial equator, at present (these numbers
were a little greater in Megalithic times).

Figure 1

Figure 1 The sun's yearly path.

The sun's changing position in the sky controls many aspects of its apparent daily motion: how high
it appears at midday; how early it rises and how late it sets; and also exactly where on the horizon it
rises and sets. It is the last of these that is probably easiest to observe without instruments.

At the March equinox (marked Aries on Figure 1) the sun rises due east and sets due west; but over
the following weeks, for observers in north temperate latitudes, the rising and setting points move
northwards along the horizon. (At the same time, it rises earlier and sets later every day, and it
climbs higher in the sky at midday.) This movement slows down and halts at midsummer, before
reversing; in this sense the sun "stands still" at the midsummer solstice.

So what of the moon? To a first approximation, it's simply a high-speed mimic of the sun, repeating
the sun's annual north-south cycle in every monthly orbit. For example, in February the last-quarter
moon, being 90 degrees west of the sun, shows us roughly how the sun was behaving three months
ago, in November.

But the moon's movement is not quite that simple; its orbit is tilted to the plane of the earth's orbit,
by 5.1 degrees. So for most of the time, the moon travels either north or south of the sun's path. It
crosses it only twice in each orbit, at the nodes (marked ascending node and descending node on
Figures 2 and 3).
Figure 2

Figure 2 The moon's path in 1995.

Figure 2 shows the moon's path in the year 1995. The ascending node of the moon's orbit on the
ecliptic lay just to the east of the September equinox Libra ; the descending node lay just to the east
of the March equinox Aries. The figure also shows that, in 1995, the extreme northern and
~southern declinations of the moon were less than those of the sun.

But the nodes of the moon's orbit do not remain fixed: they drift steadily westwards along the
ecliptic, taking 18.6 years to make one complete circuit. Two years after Figure 2, in February 1997,
the moon's nodes had moved westwards from their positions in Figure 2, and lay exactly on the
equinoxes. As a result, the moon's motion in declination was reduced to its minimum, between
+18.3 degrees and -18.3 degrees; this is what Thom calls a minor standstill.

Figure 3

Figure 3 The moon's path in 2005.

By contrast, Figure 3 shows the moon's orbit at the start of 2005: the ascending node was then a
little way east of the March equinox, and the descending node was approaching the September
equinox. And the extreme northern and southern declinations of the moon were now greater than
those of the sun. When we reached June 2006, the nodes again coincided exactly with the
equinoxes, and this time we had a major standstill: the moon can reach declinations of +28.6
degrees and -28.6 degrees.

When the moon is near its extreme northern declination, it climbs higher in the sky than usual, and it
rises and sets further north than usual. Alexander Thom theorised that many ancient stone circles
were designed to keep track of the changing positions of the sun and moon, by monitoring where on
the horizon they rose and set:

"As I write this (1969), the Moon is coming through a major standstill. One cannot fail to be surprised
to see it set and rise almost in the north. A fortnight later one is again surprised to see how far to the
south are the rising and setting points, and how very low it is at transit." (Megalithic Lunar
Observatories, p.22.)

The Moon's node passed the equinox in the middle of June 2006, but the Moon actually reached its
most northerly declination on September 15th 2006, and its extreme behaviour was still noticeable
for a couple of years after that. However, as the nodes continue to drift westwards, it is gradually
returning to "normal". The next minor standstill is in October 2015, and we won't see another major
standstill until April 2025.