# Do people in the southern hemisphere view the moon as inverted compared to the northern hemisphere? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 19, 2014, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-the-southern-hemisphere-view-the-moon-as-inverted-compared-to-the-northern-hemisphere/701770 "2014-10-19T06:20:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-the-southern-hemisphere-view-the-moon-as-inverted-compared-to-the-northern-hemisphere/701770/41 "2014-10-21T03:51:22Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > The Latin root of the word crescent means “to grow”, as in increasing size. > > In Spanish, they way I learned it, “Cresciente” (the name of the Moon phase), means “enlarging, growing” And also decreasing. In any case, Merriam Webster online, Wikipedia, and the other places I looked on line define the crescent moon as either before 1st quarter or after last quarter which is the way I’ve always known it in English. What is the moon after last quarter called in Spanish? ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-the-southern-hemisphere-view-the-moon-as-inverted-compared-to-the-northern-hemisphere/701770/42 "2014-10-21T05:33:37Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > Yes they do, in fact at school I remembered being taught the phases of the Moon by noting that it was C shaped when Crescent and D shaped when De-crescent, opposite to what I see now living in the Northern Hemisphere. > [@OldGuy](#): > > This wouldn’t appear to help at all. I’ve always seen “crescent” applied to both the waxing and waning moon just before or just after the new moon. Trying to see where the confusion is. I think what **Ale** was saying is that in the Southern Hemisphere, when the moon is waxing (crescent - from the Latin root meaning “to grow”), the bulge of the moon points to the left, as does the bulge of the letter “C”. Similarly, when the moon is waning (de-crescent - “ungrow”) the bulge of the moon points to the right, as does the bulge of the letter “D”. If that is _not_ what he meant, god help us all. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-the-southern-hemisphere-view-the-moon-as-inverted-compared-to-the-northern-hemisphere/701770/43 "2014-10-21T06:18:27Z")
That must be a Southern Hemisphere thing, as up here in the NH, the ridge of the crescent during 1st quarter (waxing, right after New Moon), would match the curve of a “D” then the curve in the waning 4th quarter would match a “C”. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-the-southern-hemisphere-view-the-moon-as-inverted-compared-to-the-northern-hemisphere/701770/44 "2014-10-21T06:23:27Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Oh my Gosh, it’s upside down!!!1!! You rotated the moon!! > > No you didn’t. You rotated your head. That’s all that’s happening here. He may have rotated his head, but you just _blew his mind!_ ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-the-southern-hemisphere-view-the-moon-as-inverted-compared-to-the-northern-hemisphere/701770/45 "2014-10-21T09:17:54Z")
> [@jimbuff314](#): > > Trying to see where the confusion is. I think what **Ale** was saying is that in the Southern Hemisphere, when the moon is waxing (crescent - from the Latin root meaning “to grow”), the bulge of the moon points to the left, as does the bulge of the letter “C”. Similarly, when the moon is waning (de-crescent - “ungrow”) the bulge of the moon points to the right, as does the bulge of the letter “D”. > > If that is _not_ what he meant, god help us all. Yes, that’s correct. Catastrophe averted. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-the-southern-hemisphere-view-the-moon-as-inverted-compared-to-the-northern-hemisphere/701770/46 "2014-10-21T15:49:00Z")
Myself, I still haven’t figured out how people in the Southern Hemisphere keep from falling off the planet. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-the-southern-hemisphere-view-the-moon-as-inverted-compared-to-the-northern-hemisphere/701770/47 "2014-10-21T22:22:38Z")
Glue. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-the-southern-hemisphere-view-the-moon-as-inverted-compared-to-the-northern-hemisphere/701770/48 "2014-10-22T02:28:57Z")
I suspected as such. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-the-southern-hemisphere-view-the-moon-as-inverted-compared-to-the-northern-hemisphere/701770/49 "2014-10-22T02:58:06Z")
No no no… we are more attractive. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-the-southern-hemisphere-view-the-moon-as-inverted-compared-to-the-northern-hemisphere/701770/50 "2014-10-22T03:12:01Z")
> [@newme](#): > > I think seeing the sun move across the sky from right to left would take some getting used to. Absolutely! I was on a bus, traveling across the USA, thinking “East, East, East…”. I knew I was traveling West, but I was completely thrown by the strong feeling that I was traveling East. Then I looked down out of the bus, and realised that the shadow of the bus was on the _wrong side_. In Aus, when I travel West, the Sun is on my right, and my shadow is on my left. > [@Ale](#): > > Obviously this means there is an intermediate state in between North and South, so near the equator the Moon is on its side, so to speak, with the illuminated/dark line nearly horizontal. And this is strange too! And it’s definitely weird in Alice Springs. The crescent moon points towards the sun, and the crescent moon lies down and points towards the horizon. I never noticed a difference between N/S hemisphere, but the difference between Chicago and Darwin in strikingly obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-the-southern-hemisphere-view-the-moon-as-inverted-compared-to-the-northern-hemisphere/701770/51 "2014-10-22T06:11:55Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Absolutely! I was on a bus, traveling across the USA, thinking “East, East, East…”. I knew I was traveling West, but I was completely thrown by the strong feeling that I was traveling East. Then I looked down out of the bus, and realised that the shadow of the bus was on the _wrong side_. In Aus, when I travel West, the Sun is on my right, and my shadow is on my left. > > And this is strange too! And it’s definitely weird in Alice Springs. The crescent moon points towards the sun, and the crescent moon lies down and points towards the horizon. I never noticed a difference between N/S hemisphere, but the difference between Chicago and Darwin in strikingly obvious. [Here’s a photo I took from my balcony a few months ago](https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/SOEieVYkkW9oG66cMMMe9ZnzxZsK7jromZtKp8Adykw?feat=directlink), the Moon setting over Bangkok, it’s not always so horizontal because, AFAIK, the terminator angle depends on the Earth’s tilt relative to the Sun. ---
**Author:** ![bizerta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@bizerta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizerta)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-the-southern-hemisphere-view-the-moon-as-inverted-compared-to-the-northern-hemisphere/701770/52 "2014-10-22T19:01:50Z")
Go to that point on earth where the moon is directly overhead. Call this point X. Now draw a circle on the earth with a radius of 5000 miles centered on point X. Any person standing on that circle will view the moon, slightly differently, about 15 degrees above the horizon. If you could get into a jet plane and fly clockwise along that circle, the moon would be directly to your right and remain on your right, 15 degrees above the horizon, as you flew the entire circle. If you just looked at the moon, the moon would appear to rotate one complete rotation as you flew the circle. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-the-southern-hemisphere-view-the-moon-as-inverted-compared-to-the-northern-hemisphere/701770/53 "2014-10-23T23:49:25Z")
We’ve already done this. See [my post from an earlier thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17581595&postcount=24) for a simple illustration. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-the-southern-hemisphere-view-the-moon-as-inverted-compared-to-the-northern-hemisphere/701770.md?page=2)