We had a 4 and a half hour old Full Moon in the daytime yesterday!

I was out early, and saw the moon quite high in the sky, so I started checking moonrise/set times and sunrise/set times for my area. I thought a full moon in the day was impossible. It was quite high AT sunrise today at 98% full, yesterday I think cloud cover near morning obscured the moon but I don't have a good vantage point to see the horizons going to work. But I did notice the moon very high an hour before sunrise yesterday, then the horizons became obscured.

Moon phase calendar stated that the full moon occurred last night 3:32 a.m. (accounting for daylight savings time). Sunrise yesterday was 7:54 a.m., moonset was 8:53 a.m., just 4 and a half hours old. This should give ample time for a precise 100% full moon and sun above the horizon at the same time, which I believed happened last March.

Is it rare or impossible to have a 100% full moon in the day? In my opinion apparently not.

It is rare and not 100% full but like 99% full

The higher your altitude the more full it will seem

reply to post by Illustronic


The full moon will rise at sunset. Any offset of the timing of the full moon will put it a little bit on either side. If full moon occurs before sunset, then the moon will rise slightly before sunset.

reply to post by THEDUDE86


Do you mean my Latitude? 39.99135º. Anyway the moonset difference from yesterday to today was 38 minutes earlier, 61 minutes after sunrise. Would 100% full make that much difference? 3:32 100%, 8:53 set, 59 minutes after sunrise.

I kind of noticed that also.
Last nite was a very full moon.

And this morning also. a very large bright moon.

I saw that and at first I thought it was the light from my bathroom. huge!

reply to post by grey580


I do believe last nights full moon is called the "Wolfs Moon". There are other names for it, just can't remember at the moment. I am going by memory recall on this and only one cup of coffee so bear with me here.

I also remember reading that it was significant with various tribes/beliefs. Let me get back to you on this...need more coffee

yes, it;s the old tennis ball and flashlight thing....
picture in your mind where the sun is and then one can figure the moon's look just like a tennis ball being lit-up with a flashlight

I have taken a few photos of a complete full moon in daylight (at sunset usually).

Too bad it is so cloudy right now or I would go have another look. Hope we get snow...

last sunday i noticed the same thing in my trip home (from Esposende to Guimarães, here in Portugal). it was about 5 o'clock (5pm) in the evening i was traveling in the direction of west to east (sun was setting at my back and anormaly big full moon rising a east..) it was impressive...

reply to post by Illustronic


Ahhhh! I see you have answered the very question you have challenged me with. Thanks for reminding me.

reply to post by jeenyus2008


Well because my full moon was about 3:30 a.m. (times posted do not account for daylight savings time places) it wasn't precisely full in the day, however, according to the small map here, Maybe north Germany and Poland, or Latvia and Estonia saw a more precise full moon, and being a bit more north latitude than me.

Regardless for three days I enjoyed a near full moon in the daylight, and figured there's a greater chance of it happening for me in the winter, than the summer. In your thread it explains if you go too far north to the lands of the midnight sun, for that short period of time in June (north hemisphere) if a full moon coincides, will be below the horizon.

I've never studied this, and haven't found a great deal about in around the web. Apparently a lot of factors are in play, which is why I think it's rare. I'm all ears/eyes for a good thorough source on the matter.

reply to post by Illustronic


Wouldn't (depending on location of course) the only time you see it is if you are in the northern hemisphere, in summer, and the moon is rising as the sun is setting....? Therefore more sun would be hitting the moon. That's my best guess.

I found this reply to be helpful from a physics forum:

"A full moon rises at sunset and sets at sinrise. A moon that is not quite full can still appear to be full, and can rise an hour earlier than sunset, or set an hour after sunrise. Maybe that's what you saw. There's a few other variations, such as when the moon is high or low on its inclined orbit. As the moon passes behind the Earth as seen from the Sun, it's not completely in line or there'd be a lunar eclipse. It looks very full and we still call it a full moon, but a view through binoculars will show a little bit of terminator. But even then, you're going to see it close to the horizon shortly before sunset or after sunrise. People who live in high latitudes can have the almost full moon in the daytime sky for hours." Physics Forum.

reply to post by jeenyus2008


I saw that link, I suspect a flaw the way the person ended with;

People who live in high latitudes can have the almost full moon in the daytime sky for hours.

Because of what was explained here, when I brought the subject up in your thread.

Again, an amateur astronomer here would be better versed on this, I haven't looked into it, and never really thought about a full moon in the day before lately. Maybe I threw it into your thread Jeenyus for answers. But I suspected around my latitude of 40º north would have a good chance in December or January, due to the low incline of the paths. Too far north the full moon (instant) won't rise above your horizon, you simply wont see one in June, in say, Svalbard, or Barrow Alaska. One would think this would be easy to verify.

reply to post by Illustronic


In my thread it was explained that we orbit the sun closest to its equator. Wouldnt the moon have to be in between the Earth and the Sun when the sun hits it, and it would only be visible to the geographical area that was facing the sun (More so Northern hemisphere toward the sun). Looking at this video: It seems like if their was indeed a fullmoon in the daylight it would be a very rare occasion, and most people wouldn't be able to see it. Like you said Alaska, Iceland, and Northern Russia.

reply to post by voyger2


I saw most of the video you posted, fascinating if it was real. I wonder why you edited it out. It looked like a great vantage point seeing the rise and set on the beach. I live in the city in a slope towards a river, so seeing the horizons for me I have to really travel out, or go up a building. I wouldn't mind viewing that again.

Originally posted by Illustronic
reply to post by voyger2

 

I saw most of the video you posted, fascinating if it was real. I wonder why you edited it out. It looked like a great vantage point seeing the rise and set on the beach. I live in the city in a slope towards a river, so seeing the horizons for me I have to really travel out, or go up a building. I wouldn't mind viewing that again.

I thought it wasn't worth to see it because nobody replied... but since you like it, i will publish it again.
here it is:
www.youtube.com...

like i said before, you need to jump some frames to see something (:

Originally posted by voyger2
last sunday i noticed the same thing in my trip home (from Esposende to Guimarães, here in Portugal). it was about 5 o'clock (5pm) in the evening i was traveling in the direction of west to east (sun was setting at my back and anormaly big full moon rising a east..) it was impressive...

edit on 10-1-2012 by voyger2 because: (no reason given)

reply to post by abeverage


STAR!! I see daylight full moons constantly. I do not see what the big deal is. The earth is so small compared to the sun, there is always going to be light which goes around it.

reply to post by groingrinder

Actually it is the orbital angle of the moon not really the size of the sun that matters here. Just like the moon can completely block the sun during an eclipse the same is true for the earth blocking the sun on the moon (Lunar Eclipse). But get this...because the Earth is larger than the moon when there is a lunar eclipse the Earth blocks more of the sun the moon would.

So if you were on the moon and looking at Earth during a Solar Eclipse the apparent size of the earth is bigger than the sun!

What I have always found weird is how perfectly the moon blocks the sun as both have the same apparent size! If they didn't have that, we may not have tested Einstein's theory of relativity or at least had to find another experiment to prove it...