Dear Tom,
The same side of the moon always faces the Earth, yet when the astronauts were on the moon they reported an “earthrise.” How could that be?
Benjamin Walker, Chicago
Dear Benjamin,
Triton College astronomer Dan Joyce has this response: “Your observant reader is correct on two points. The same side (with a slight variance) of the moon does face the Earth, and the Apollo astronauts could not see an earthrise when they were standing on the moon.
“What they could see was an earthrise when they were in orbit around the moon in the command module, much the same way that shuttle astronauts witness sun/moonrises in orbit around the Earth.”
Joyce says the moon as seen from the Earth appears to wobble a bit, and that makes 59 percent, not just 50 percent, of the moon’s surface observable from Earth.
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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
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