Monday 11 February 2019

Upside down moon




The moon fascinates me.

We had an upside moon last night which I saw from our sitting room window. I immediately went outside and standing snapping. The photo is from last night, the text from last year, January 18th:

An upside down moon is a result of the moon's orbit around the earth, and the earth's orbit around the sun. And exactly when you see the moon in the shape of a U (lit on the bottom) rather than a backward C depends on what latitude you are at.

We see the moon in the night sky because it is reflecting light from the sun. So the lit part of the moon always points towards the sun. As the earth travels around the sun, the tilt of the earth on its axis sometimes points the northern hemisphere towards the sun and sometimes points the southern hemisphere towards the sun. But this also changes the apparent path of the moon across the night sky when you are on earth looking out at it.  Sometimes it travels at an angle towards the horizon and sometimes it travels straight down toward the horizon. When the crescent moon travels straight down the horizon, you will get the U shaped moon. This can happen once or twice a year, depending on the latitude of your location.



55 comments:

  1. this never happened before 2015

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    1. Yeah it did in 2010 if you actually look.

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    2. It happen today right now

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    3. Ask the moons been like this for many months now. Just something off with it. I live in virginia. If wondering????

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  2. I thought so too..I have NEVER ever seen the moon like this before...looks like an orange smiley face...

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  3. Seeing this right now at 4:50 a.m. Oct. 2022 I almost freaking out cause it’s pretty but I had never seems this before

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    1. literally was thinking the same thing earlier this morning. freaked me tf out started convincing myself the moon was replaced💀

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  4. Last night the moon was lite on the bottom. today the moon is lite up on the side.that was the bottom lastnight.

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  5. The moon looks different but it's not we have rolled a quarter turn to the right. Is this correct ?

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  6. I am just seeing this for the first time in South Carolina on Dec 18,2022, I thought I entered a parallel universe cz I'm always looking at the night sky n never seen that before

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  7. I just saw it here in Florida December 2022. Never seen it in my life

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    1. That's what I thought when I first saw it.

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  8. Seeing one for the first time in Mexico, so cool!

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  9. Me too! In Oaxaca rn seeing this insane cup of a moon. I’m old & I cannot believe I’ve never seen this before

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  10. I saw it for first time in New Jersey, USA at 11.00 pm ET on 29 Dec 2022. It’s really cool and fascinating.

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    1. Almost half of the bottom half was bright. Could not believe my eyes. I had always seen vertical crescents.

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  11. Just seen this for the first time in PR

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  12. I’m originally from England, uk and I’ve travelled to Saint Vincent last night on holiday and when I arrived I saw this…never seen that in my life…not in my side of the world that’s for sure. It sure was different.

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  13. Seen it in Vietnam, Hanoi tonight 23rd feb 2023

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  14. Seeing it in Indiana tonight. I'm with the first comment, I've seen it before but only recall seeing it in the lay decade or less

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  15. I saw it today 2/25/23 and I was freaking out!

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  16. it’s upside down

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  17. Seen it in Benton TN tonight. That's just crazy!

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    1. I'm glad you've all seen it. Amazing, isn't it?

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  18. I was searching for upside moon.and found this site, glad i'm not alone. I saw it in Türkiye last night 25/03/2023 It was really freaking. The crescent was downwards. I don't recall i have seen moon like this before. What's happening? I search the phases on northern hemisphere but there is no phase like this. If something has changed they must let us know.

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  19. Seeing in Owensboro Kentucky tonight 3/26/23. I've been saying for years now that is not our moon. When I was little all I did was talk to the man in the moon for hours every night. Even long after I found out he wasn't real still found myself in conversation with him often. I've never been more familiar with something like the way grandma's house smells or how you know your mother hands. I noticed it changed over night he wasnt the same there were dark spots where there shouldn't be and light where there once was dark. Now I understand something impacting it and cratering a dark spot but how did the once dark spot become filled in maybe I'm tripping but I'll swear it till I die. That's not our same moon.

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  20. Me and my mates have just seen this and totally lost it. Who did this to the moon? So comforting to know there are more of us out there. We can't all be wrong can we?

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    1. Also just FYI we are in Bermuda if that helps

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  21. I'm one of the friends and can confirm he's not lying. Everyone else is!!!
    Also, think about it, have you ever seen this moon, and a full moon at the same time?! NO!! THEY ARE THE SAME PERSON!!!

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    1. Ah man I’m freakin out. Why is no one talking about this?

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  22. Man I saw it and still seeing it it's crazy

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  23. The Moon was strangly upside down in the midnight sky,never seen this before in my life time 55 years,looked like a light bulb it was at early ours 1 am in SA

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  24. Here is one more. It's 21/06/2023 and there's this upside down moon here in Indonesia, Southeast Asia. It's the first time for me to see this kind of moon. I was totally gobsmacked and thought there was something wrong with my eyes. Almost thinking it was a sign of something bad that's about to happen. So glad to hear an explanation for this phenomenon.

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    1. So glad you found this useful. I was gobsmacked too when I first saw it. Have seen two or three times now.

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  25. Was dreaming of a moon turning upside down and I found this I article..?

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    1. There you go... your dreams come true....

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  26. Has this ever happened years & years ago? I’m seeing the upside moon tonight so freaky? 12/5/23

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  27. i saw 1 yesterday but orange
    😳

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  28. The moon is off. Different. Maybe it has been replaced. Sick of being deceived and gaslit.

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    1. No gaslighting, I assure you. This is how it was. It does not happen very often, once or twice a year, and there is a scientific explanation as you can see from my post. Thank you for your comment.

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  29. Tonight, February 13th of 2024 there's an upside down crescent Moon that reflects a "U" shape?

    I never in all my 61 years seen this before, ever.

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  30. I sent this comment on February 13th before 10:35pm not on Valentine's Day the 14th of February. TY

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  31. I tried to photographs it but it appeared full instead of a crescent moon upside downward...

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  32. Looking at the "U" moon now (2/14/24- 10:50 P.M.) from the jersey shore. It also has a really big, bright star next to it. Neither my mom nor I have seen the moon like this or the bright star next to it before. It's weird. What's with the star? Here's the third odd thing. A plane keeps going by them traveling more slowly and lower than normal. I'm not implying anything... it's just.... odd.

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  33. Found this page because the moon is like this now in Pittsburgh for the passed couple nights! Seems odd

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