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Is the Motion of the Moon in the Sky Variable?

-- | October 1, 2015

Question: Last night with the Super Moon/Eclipse the sky was clear and the moon (in the West?) seemed to move slowly, if at all. Tonight the moon was moving very fast (towards the East?) and seemed to be BELOW the clouds. A very different looking sky altogether. Please can you explain these differences? — Jan

Answer: The orbital speed of the Moon changes only be very small amounts as it orbits Earth. Perhaps you were using a reference point, such as clouds, which were themselves moving, thus giving the illusion of a Moon which was apparently moving more quickly than it really was?

Jeff Mangum

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