I checked an app and saw that today, the sunrise and moonrise time are almost same. The sunset and moonset time are also same. Why does this happen?
I have always known that moon rises at night and sets at dawn.
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3$\begingroup$ Moonrise time is shifting every day a little bit, so over time, the Moon is rising and setting at various times of the day. Often it is rising during the day (in the morning or the noon or afternoon, etc.). See the table here with the moon rise and setting times: timeanddate.com/moon/india/siliguri $\endgroup$– mpvJul 20 '20 at 8:17
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$\begingroup$ Wow didn't knew. Always thought that Moon rises at nighy and set at dawn. Saw the moon sometimes during daytime. But to see it rising and setting with the sun at the same time!!! $\endgroup$– WebInsightJul 20 '20 at 8:20
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1$\begingroup$ Note "Phase: 0%", that's New Moon. That means its side opposite from Earth is entirely lit, and our side - completely dark (maybe except of narrow sliver on upper or lower edge). And that means at the moment it's right between Earth and the Sun, and so both rise above the horizon right at the same time, and really close in the sky (of course you won't see the Moon because the sky is very bright in that area). In rare cases the Moon is exactly between the Sun and the observer on Earth, and this is when the solar eclipse happens. Conversely lunar eclipses always happen on full moon. $\endgroup$– SF.Jul 20 '20 at 11:59
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1$\begingroup$ People think of the moon being up at night because when the sun is up it steals the show and when the sun is down the moon is so obvious. But the moon is in the sky whenever it wants to be, so to speak, and the phase of the moon has a lot to do with where it is in relation to the sun. Watch it for a month or two, think about where the sun is when you see the moon, and see if you can understand it. (E.g. crescent moon high in the sky won't be at midnight -- why not?) $\endgroup$– GregJul 20 '20 at 17:42
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That's called New Moon and happens roughly once a month.
It's when (viewed from earth) the moon, circling the earth, is in the same direction as the sun. So, by rotation of the earth, both become visible (sunrise/moonrise) and invisible (sunset/moonset) at roughly the same time.
Moon is then hardly visible for two reasons:
- The back side of the moon is lit by the sun, the side facing to us does not get sunlight.
- The moon is visibly rather close to the sun, so sunlight will blind the human eye when looking in that direction.
Two weeks later, we have Full Moon, the moon is opposite to the sun, it rises when the sun goes down and goes down when the sun rises, meaning that it's visible at night. And the side facing us gets full sunlight, so the moon becomes a very bright object on night sky.
