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How Does the Path that the Moon Takes on the Sky Differ from that of the Sun?

-- BILL | July 20, 2023

Question:

I understand the path that the Sun appears to take through the sky as viewed from Earth. I am also aware that the Sun makes a figure 8 pattern in the sky over the course of a year known as an analemma. I know this is caused by the Earth being tilted on its axis.

My question is about the orbit of the Moon around the Earth. Does the Moon always trace the exact same path through the sky? Is it ever higher or lower in the sky? I have heard that it wobbles and that it is in an elliptical orbit around the Earth. I wondered if this changes the path that the Moon appears to take through our sky. I’ve wondered if it might make a pattern similar to an analemma that the Sun makes.

I have been unable to find any info on this.

-- BILL

Answer:

There is a very nice description of the comparison of the Sun’s and Moon’s paths through the sky from Astronomy Magazine that I think answers your question very well. To summarize, the Moon traces a similar path through the sky as the Sun, but can wander by +-5.1 degrees relative to the Sun’s path. The Moon also crosses the Sun’s path on the sky twice per month, these crossing points representing the “nodes” of the Moon’s orbit.

-- Jeff Mangum

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