I’m surrounded by buildings here, but if I knew where to look . . . What direction from Dallas is the moon this morning, anyway?
A full moon is setting in the morning - just about the time the sun is rising.
Yes, but from Dallas, today, would that be in the northern, southern, eastern, or western sky?
The moon sets in the west, just like the Sun does.
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Assuming that this question is serious, the place where the moon sets would be the WESTERN sky.
Many thanks. I guess it was a dumb question, but I didn’t know the answer.
No problem.
I live in Dallas too (Frisco) and love walking the dogs on nights when the moon is full. Last night the moon was especially bright though that could have been more my imagination because of the “supermoon” hype. In reality, the difference between a full moon at perigee and a full moon at apogee is pretty minimal. Since last night was a full moon it was exactly opposite the Earth from the sun. The moon rose in the East right as the sun was going down and set in the West just as the sun was coming up. Around midnight the moon would have been directly overhead showing that it was high noon on exactly the opposite side of the planet from us. For some reason knowing I could visibly see exactly where the sun was in the sky around the Earth last night based on the moon position was fascinating to think about. I am definitely an astronomy geek.
When you look at diagrams of the solar system you’ll notice that all of the planets and moons orbit on roughly the same plane around the sun and around each other. This plane is called the “ecliptic”. If you watch the path that the sun follows in the sky from sun up to sun down you can tell where the ecliptic is in the sky. After the sun sets, any planets that are visible will all be within a narrow band centered around the path the sun traced in the sky. The constellations astrology uses are all arranged around the ecliptic as well. As a year passes the sun will trace a line through each of those constellations. This is because in the summer time we’re on one side of the sun so we see summer time constellations in the night sky. In winter we’re on the opposite side of the sun so we see a different set of stars and constellations in the night sky. The stars we had seen in the night sky in the summer time would be visible in the day time if not for the sun. The constellation that the sun is currently “in” from the point of view of Earth is the current star sign used for your daily horoscope - if you believe that sort of thing.
Here is a really cool app (for Mac, iOS, Win, and Android), that tells you exactly where the moon and sun will be:
I used it to take this photo (it took several years of trying). This was NOT last night.
Wow, Frazzled, I’m impressed by your geekity!
And beowulff, what a gorgeous photo! What’s the city, please?
That’s downtown Phoenix, photographed from Papago park.
We’re packing a picnic dinner and goin’ Moon-Huntin’ ! Wish to god we could get out on Riker’s Island but sadly that’s a prison. Looking at that area of northern Queens, because there’s a fair bit of airspace that’s just the end of Long Island Sound and LaGuardia Airport and will give us a fair view of the horizon. With some low-ish apartment buildings in the distance. But still.
Last time there was a huge moon several months ago we were crossing over the 59th Street Bridge Upper Level. EVERYONE was crawling along, savoring the remarkable view. Can’t very well stop the car and get out with the 300mm lens 
( or can we? )
Randall’s Island seemed a possibility and still may be, though it’s a pricey ride for a moon photo since the toll gets paid both ways on the TriBoro Bridge.
Somehow… we’re gonna find some open air space to see this moon !
The supermoon was amazing in VA. I went outside at midnight and the moon was casting shadows. The moon was so bright it almost hurt my eyes to look at it. Never seen anything like it.
I’m a moon watcher and I thought it looked exceptionally bright, too. I’m headed out to try to get some pictures shortly.
Had fun the last two nights waiting for it to emerge from some clouds on the horizon-got some awesome looks at it through the telescope drifting through the scuds.
“Look! Up in the sky!”
Nice both last night and tonight~
Last night the colours were better.
Ok, I’m in California and from what I understand I should be looking towards the ocean, so is the moon tonight or tomorrow?
Gorgeous. It rose over CitiField. Huuuuge.
The moon is every night. But last night was when it was full.
ETA: here’s a photo I took at the Desert Botanical Gardens.