When the we see the sun and the moon, we associate one with morning an the other with night time. However, the moon isn’t only around at night, its also sometimes visible during the day
The Sun and Moon
At the same time.
The first thing we need to know is how the moon produces light.
Unlike the sun, we know the moon doesn't actually produce its own light, but reflects the light produced from the sun off its surface.
Now, the world takes 24 hours (1 day) to do a complete rotation of its own axis.
The moon however, takes 27 days to complete a full orbit around the earth.
And the earth takes 365 days (1 year) to complete one orbit around the sun.
The animation to the right is not to scale, however the time it takes for the earth to turn, orbit the sun and for the moon to orbit the earth is all accurate.
It’s these factors which create the different faces of the moon.
At some point in your life you have looked up at the sky and noticed the moon looks different from the night before.
This is because of it is position to the sun and earth.
Click here for the moon phases
One thing you’ll notice from the animations is how the moon orbits. Notice that half its time (13.5 days) is spent on the same side as the sun.
This is the time when we see the sun and moon out at the same time.
So seeing the sun and moon out at the same time is actually quite common and actually occurs for half its cycle.
