# Does everyone on Earth see the Moon the same way? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 25, 2014, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-on-earth-see-the-moon-the-same-way/693980 "2014-07-25T00:17:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PurpleClogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@PurpleClogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleClogs)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-on-earth-see-the-moon-the-same-way/693980/1 "2014-07-25T00:17:38Z")
When I look up at the pattern of [shadows on the moon from Texas](http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/files/2012/08/73485860.jpg), I see what has always looked to me a bit like the [Energizer Bunny](http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-thing?.out=jpg&size=l&tid=11173218) facing left. If I travel to every longitude and latitude, will I see the exact same thing (not simultaneously of course), or will it be tilted, rotated, or upside down? When people post photos of the moon online, they sometimes look completely different and I can’t wrap my head around why that would be. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-on-earth-see-the-moon-the-same-way/693980/2 "2014-07-25T01:10:18Z")
The moon always shows the same face \* to earth, it is in tidal lock. The far side is called just that, but has sometimes erroneously been called “dark side”. - There’s a small bit of wobble, so the edges change a little… Its like 90% is the same with some change at the very edges. The phases, the dark patch chopped out, are caused by the shadow of the moons own substance… The dark patch is in shadow, its silhouetted… but its the same part of the moon under there, it doesn’t change its spots. If you see the moon in the west, early in the morning for you , its going to look upside down to when you see it in the east (early in the evening)… When its high above you, your position is random so you might feel its best to be facing north or south when you look at it. If you see it in the west, someone else far around the world can see it in their east… so they would say it was upside down , compared to your view. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-on-earth-see-the-moon-the-same-way/693980/3 "2014-07-25T01:18:28Z")
> [@PurpleClogs](#): > > When people post photos of the moon online, they sometimes look completely different and I can’t wrap my head around why that would be. In the Southern Hemisphere, the moon will appear “upside down” relative to how it’s seen in the North. That is, the part of the moon closest to the horizon when seen from the Northern Hemisphere will be farthest from the horizon in the South. [Moon from Northern Hemisphere](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Full_Moon_Luc_Viatour.jpg/238px-Full_Moon_Luc_Viatour.jpg) [Moon from Southern Hemisphere](http://dolio.lh.net/~apw/astro/images/moon_south.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-on-earth-see-the-moon-the-same-way/693980/4 "2014-07-25T03:04:20Z")
Not to mention that IF it’s a telescopic photograph, it’s going to be upside-down unless the photographer either used a prism attachment or flipped it in “post-production”. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-on-earth-see-the-moon-the-same-way/693980/5 "2014-07-25T05:37:05Z")
How much would it cost to polish up the ol’ girl and get her to be a uniform sphere of pure white, as she should be? Then we wouldn’t have to deal with this nonsense! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-on-earth-see-the-moon-the-same-way/693980/6 "2014-07-25T05:45:50Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Not to mention that IF it’s a telescopic photograph, it’s going to be upside-down unless the photographer either used a prism attachment or flipped it in “post-production”. All optical photography involves a lens which produces an inverted image of the field of vision. Whether the resulting photograph is upside-down, however, depends on which way up you choose to hold it. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-on-earth-see-the-moon-the-same-way/693980/7 "2014-07-25T05:56:09Z")
How to phrase this… Is the Moon’s orbit on the Earth’s equatorial plane or on the Earth’s orbital plane (the plane of the Earth orbiting the Sun)? ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-on-earth-see-the-moon-the-same-way/693980/8 "2014-07-25T06:06:24Z")
Neither. The orbital plane of the moon is inclined to the ecliptic plane (the plane in which the earth rotates around the sun) by about 5.1 degrees. ---
**Author:** ![Saturn\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Saturn\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saturn_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-on-earth-see-the-moon-the-same-way/693980/9 "2014-07-25T06:44:03Z")
> [@PurpleClogs](#): > > When I look up at the pattern of [shadows on the moon from Texas](http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/files/2012/08/73485860.jpg), I see what has always looked to me a bit like the [Energizer Bunny](http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-thing?.out=jpg&size=l&tid=11173218) facing left. It’s funny you would say that. I thought it was only Asian culture that saw a [rabbit on the moon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_rabbit). ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-on-earth-see-the-moon-the-same-way/693980/10 "2014-07-25T06:59:23Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > The moon always shows the same face \* to earth, it is in tidal lock. > The far side is called just that, but has sometimes erroneously been called “dark side”. How about parallax? Is the Earth large enough so that, from the 2 furthest opposite points on Earth, where the Moon is just visible above the horizon, it appears different? Like say if the Moon were a person’s head, from a bit to the right you see one ear, and a bit to the left you see the other ear? And the moon’s surface itself? If the mountains are high enough, from different sides they’ll obscure different parts of surrounding land. But I think this isn’t the case. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-on-earth-see-the-moon-the-same-way/693980/11 "2014-07-25T07:20:04Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > How about parallax? Is the Earth large enough so that, from the 2 furthest opposite points on Earth, where the Moon is just visible above the horizon, it appears different? Like say if the Moon were a person’s head, from a bit to the right you see one ear, and a bit to the left you see the other ear? > > And the moon’s surface itself? If the mountains are high enough, from different sides they’ll obscure different parts of surrounding land. But I think this isn’t the case. Mathematically it’s plenty far enough - the Earth to Moon distance is thirty Earth diameters to a round number, so your two observers have a demonstrably different view as the viewing angles are a few degrees apart. It might be hard to spot though without some clever instrumentation. It would be interesting to get the two views at the same time through TV cameras and compare them. ---
**Author:** ![PurpleClogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@PurpleClogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleClogs)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-on-earth-see-the-moon-the-same-way/693980/12 "2014-07-25T09:56:07Z")
I am so glad that this wasn’t a totally stupid question! I’ve wondered about this for so long now. Thanks. > [@Saturn\_Dreams](#): > > It’s funny you would say that. I thought it was only Asian culture that saw a [rabbit on the moon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_rabbit). I may be the only one. Anytime I’ve pointed it out to someone they don’t agree. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-on-earth-see-the-moon-the-same-way/693980/13 "2014-07-25T11:25:53Z")
> [@Saturn\_Dreams](#): > > It’s funny you would say that. I thought it was only Asian culture that saw a [rabbit on the moon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_rabbit). Precolumbian Mesoamerican cultures (Maya, Aztec, etc.) saw a rabbit. I first learned of this possibility when I visited Mexico years ago, and ever since I can’t “unsee” the rabbit. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-on-earth-see-the-moon-the-same-way/693980/14 "2014-07-25T11:53:55Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > It would be interesting to get the two views at the same time through TV cameras and compare them. [Obligatory XKCD reference.](http://xkcd.com/941/) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-on-earth-see-the-moon-the-same-way/693980/15 "2014-07-25T13:12:14Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > In the Southern Hemisphere, the moon will appear “upside down” relative to how it’s seen in the North. That is, the part of the moon closest to the horizon when seen from the Northern Hemisphere will be farthest from the horizon in the South. Yep. Here’s a video of [the moon rising](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTobLnLIkF4) taken from Wellington, New Zealand. ---
**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:** [July 25, 2014, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-on-earth-see-the-moon-the-same-way/693980/16 "2014-07-25T14:16:03Z")
If you were on a shuttle that shot you across the latitudes, from the North Pole to the South Pole, in only seconds, you’d see the moon “rotate” from its familiar position in the Northern hemisphere, 180°, appearing “upside down” in the Southern Hemisphere. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-on-earth-see-the-moon-the-same-way/693980/17 "2014-07-25T15:17:50Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > How much would it cost to polish up the ol’ girl and get her to be a uniform sphere of pure white, as she should be? Then we wouldn’t have to deal with this nonsense! 🙂 And obliterate [the moon rabbit](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_rabbit)? Leave him alone! He’s making [omochi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_cake#In_Japanese_cuisine)! ---
**Author:** ![mandala](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mandala/32/95_2.png) [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-on-earth-see-the-moon-the-same-way/693980/18 "2014-07-25T15:33:14Z")
I have heard anecdotes that a small minority of people see the lunar “[Ponzo illusion](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_illusion)” in a very different manner. To them, the moon on the horizon appears subjectively “farther away” (unlike for the majority, who see it larger at the horizon than overhead). Don’t ask me to explain it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-on-earth-see-the-moon-the-same-way/693980/19 "2014-07-25T16:17:59Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > The far side is called just that, but has sometimes erroneously been called “dark side”. I don’t think that the dark side was ever an allusion to that side always being in shadow, but rather to it being unknown or unexplored. So the term wasn’t being used incorrectly - it’s just an outmoded definition of the word “Dark”. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-on-earth-see-the-moon-the-same-way/693980/20 "2014-07-25T16:45:45Z")
> [@PurpleClogs](#): > > I may be the only one. Anytime I’ve pointed it out to someone they don’t agree. Don’t worry, I’m in the same club. I remember as a kid asking something like “So the ‘man in the moon’ is like the magician who is pulling the rabbit out of the hat, right?” I never, ever saw a man there. I can’t see a man. It’s always been a rabbit. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-on-earth-see-the-moon-the-same-way/693980.md?page=2)