The Sun and Moon Conundrum

Danica's photo of the rising moon and setting sun caused some perplexity. Before I get to that, however, I did decide to adjust her photo. It's not that one should normally be so bold as to edit others' photos, but she is my granddaughter, and I did want to see what Adobe's AI would do with it.

This is the original photo as she sent it via Messenger. The horizon isn't quite straight and the boat detracts from the photo.

In my the edited version, below, I have slightly adjusted the horizon line. That is a common edit, but I have also asked AI to remove the boat, and it did it very well. I think it is a much better image.

Now, onto the puzzle of the rising moon and setting sun appearing together. If the sun sets in the west and the moon rises in the east, how could they appear in the same photo. People wanted to know, and some deduced that both orbs must have been setting. But they weren't. I have correlated the time of the photo (~8:30) with the lunar and solar times last weekend, and they match. 

There are two more pieces of evidence. We also have Danica's photo of the risen moon 45 minutes later. The sun had set, and the moon had risen higher.

The next and final bit of evidence comes from Danica's friend's dad who was supervising the weekend at the cottage. Danica reported that he was very excited, saying that this alignment only occurred once a year.

Case closed: it had been a rising moon and setting sun that Danica saw and photographed.

Now, how do we explain this? Well, I can't really, for the mathematics of this astronomical phenomenon are beyond this poor man's capability, or at least beyond what he is willing to research.

That said, I do have some thoughts.

We all know that both the sun and moon rise in the east and set in the west, so it does seem a bit mind-blowing to see the the rising moon and setting sun at the horizon in the same photo. However, the reality is that they rise toward the east and toward the west. Neither is directly east or west, and neither always rises in the very same sky position.

For example, the sun rises in a very different place and at a very different time in July than it does in January. Meanwhile, the moon also constantly changes both its time and position as it orbits an earth that is spinning below. The full moon, in this case, rises and falls in a different place and at a different time in July than it did in June and than it will do in August.

In summary: the photo and the surrounding facts indicate that the juxtaposition did occur, but that is about all that this poor blogger can offer towards an explanation. I leave it up to those of keener intellect to dig for a deeper elucidation if they so choose.

What a wonderful sighting for Danica! It is one that she will quite probably never witness again, for she would have to be in the right place at the very right time in those few fleeting moments.