<p>Like Fred said, this probably belongs on Astronomy SE, but I'll give my best answer anyways.</p>
<p>No, the sun and moon do not take the same path each day. The key to understanding this is knowing that the earth is tilted 23.5<span class="math-container">$^\circ$</span>.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/AB4JO.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/AB4JO.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>Let's take an example- the arctic circle. On the summer solstice, the sun doesn't set- It goes around and around (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_sun" rel="nofollow noreferrer">called the midnight sun</a>). In the winter solstice, the sun doesn't rise in the Arctic circle.</p>
<p>I think a careful observation of mine might be useful for you. The word Mediterranean means &quot;middle earth.&quot; Tolkien is likely referring to the specific geography- specifically the area around the Mediterranean Sea. In fact, T<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle-earth#Correspondence_with_the_geography_of_Earth" rel="nofollow noreferrer">olkien does state that the Mediterranean is the place he envisioned</a>, but <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle-earth#Cosmology" rel="nofollow noreferrer">he does use a flat earth</a>, so the cosmology doesn't really match up with reality. This is also another nail in the coffin for flat earthers.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-16T19:36:14.127Z
2020-10-16T19:36:14.127Z
BarocliniCplusplus
<p>For a long time, I've been trying to use Stellarium (simulation) and many visualizations and animations in order to get a good idea of how the Sun and Moon move across the sky, as seen by a human from the surface of Earth.</p>
<p>It's surprisingly difficult to grasp this, at least for me.</p>
<p>It <strong>seems</strong> to me that the Sun always &quot;rises&quot; in the &quot;East&quot;, goes slowly up to &quot;above our heads&quot;, and then sets to the &quot;West&quot; in the same manner, making a kind of half-circular path. After that, after some unknown time, the Moon kind of &quot;follows&quot; the Sun in this (more or less) exact path, also coming up from the East and &quot;setting&quot; in the West.</p>
<p>The fact that the Moon is orbiting around Earth, and Earth orbits around the Sun, and yet they move like this, makes no sense to my brain. It seems like the described path would only be true for the Sun, or the Moon, but not both.</p>
<p>And is it always (roughly) the same? Or does this vary depending on where you stand on Earth, and what date/year it is? It was very difficult for me to make my own experiments in Stellarium. It seemed like it would vary a bit, but not too much.</p>
<p>The reason I'm trying to figure this out is both because of general curiosity, and wanting to accurately describe the Sun and Moon in my story. In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien frequently talks about the movement and look of these objects, which appear to follow the same rules as in our world. It's clear that he had very deep knowledge of how these things appear to move on the sky over the day, and I like such &quot;details&quot; to be accurate.</p>
<p>Basically all the animations and illustrations I find of the movement of the Moon and Earth around the Sun are focused on a &quot;space overview&quot; rather than how it looks from Earth.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-16T19:01:46.343Z
This question might be a better fit on SE Astronomy.
Fred
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-17T11:42:37.460Z
This question was asked verbatim at [SE Astronomy](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/39412) about an hour after being asked here. Voting to close.
David Hammen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-17T12:46:00.553Z
I’m voting to close this question because does not belong on this site & it is also cross posted on SE Astronomy, [Does the Sun and Moon basically appear to “move on the sky” identically regardless of location and date?](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/39412/does-the-sun-and-moon-basically-appear-to-move-on-the-sky-identically-regardle)
Fred
<earth-observation><earth-rotation><sun><moon><earth-moon>
Does the Sun and Moon basically appear to "move on the sky" identically regardless of location and date?
MooMoo
# Does the Sun and Moon basically appear to "move on the sky" identically regardless of location and date?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-10-16)

For a long time, I've been trying to use Stellarium (simulation) and many visualizations and animations in order to get a good idea of how the Sun and Moon move across the sky, as seen by a human from the surface of Earth.

It's surprisingly difficult to grasp this, at least for me.

It **seems** to me that the Sun always "rises" in the "East", goes slowly up to "above our heads", and then sets to the "West" in the same manner, making a kind of half-circular path. After that, after some unknown time, the Moon kind of "follows" the Sun in this (more or less) exact path, also coming up from the East and "setting" in the West.

The fact that the Moon is orbiting around Earth, and Earth orbits around the Sun, and yet they move like this, makes no sense to my brain. It seems like the described path would only be true for the Sun, or the Moon, but not both.

And is it always (roughly) the same? Or does this vary depending on where you stand on Earth, and what date/year it is? It was very difficult for me to make my own experiments in Stellarium. It seemed like it would vary a bit, but not too much.

The reason I'm trying to figure this out is both because of general curiosity, and wanting to accurately describe the Sun and Moon in my story. In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien frequently talks about the movement and look of these objects, which appear to follow the same rules as in our world. It's clear that he had very deep knowledge of how these things appear to move on the sky over the day, and I like such "details" to be accurate.

Basically all the animations and illustrations I find of the movement of the Moon and Earth around the Sun are focused on a "space overview" rather than how it looks from Earth.

**Tags:** earth-observation, earth-rotation, sun, moon, earth-moon

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: This question might be a better fit on SE Astronomy.  
> **username_2**: This question was asked verbatim at [SE Astronomy](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/39412) about an hour after being asked here. Voting to close.  
> **username_1**: I’m voting to close this question because does not belong on this site & it is also cross posted on SE Astronomy, [Does the Sun and Moon basically appear to “move on the sky” identically regardless of location and date?](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/39412/does-the-sun-and-moon-basically-appear-to-move-on-the-sky-identically-regardle)  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2020-10-16. Score: 1

Like username_1 said, this probably belongs on Astronomy SE, but I'll give my best answer anyways.

No, the sun and moon do not take the same path each day. The key to understanding this is knowing that the earth is tilted 23.5$^\circ$.

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/AB4JO.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/AB4JO.png)

Let's take an example- the arctic circle. On the summer solstice, the sun doesn't set- It goes around and around ([called the midnight sun](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_sun)). In the winter solstice, the sun doesn't rise in the Arctic circle.

I think a careful observation of mine might be useful for you. The word Mediterranean means "middle earth." Tolkien is likely referring to the specific geography- specifically the area around the Mediterranean Sea. In fact, T[olkien does state that the Mediterranean is the place he envisioned](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle-earth#Correspondence_with_the_geography_of_Earth), but [he does use a flat earth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle-earth#Cosmology), so the cosmology doesn't really match up with reality. This is also another nail in the coffin for flat earthers.


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