Moon in the east as much as the west
 Q: I usually see the moon in the western sky in the morning on my way to work, but I remember one morning seeing it
in the eastern sky. How often does this happen?
A:
It happens a quarter of the time. We see the Moon in the eastern morning sky as often as in the western although it may not
seem that way to you. Perhaps your route to work heads you west most of the time.
[NASA] Moon and Earth view from 4 million miles
Here's how it works out: We see the daytime Moon in the East or West and in the daytime A.M. or P.M. About half the sky is
in the East and half West. Approximately half the daytime is A.M. and half P.M. That breaks down to four possibilities: (1) East
and day A.M., (2) West and day A.M., (3) East and day P.M., (4) West and day P.M. Each happening occurs one fourth of the
time.
So, the Moon being in the East in the morning occurs one fourth of the time. One quarter of a lunar month (29½ days) is 7.375 days or about a week.
I went through the numbers for Kansas City, a central USA city, and found that, in the month of June 2001, the Moon is in the East in the morning for about
eight days. The calculations, simple and straightforward, are shown in "Further Surfing, Moon in the East".
Between the 14th and the 18th of June, are probably your best chances to see the Moon in the East and in the morning. On the 14th, the day of the Third Quarter
Moon, look for a big half Moon that's visible in the morning eastern sky for about three hours. Good hunting and mind the traffic!
These approximate times apply just to Kansas City this month. The general trends, though, should be valid in the continental USA.
(Answered by April Holladay, science correspondent, June 13, 2001)
Further Surfing:
WonderQuest.com: Moon in the East
US Naval Observatory: Moon and Sun rises and sets
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