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HeartyBeast t1_jbc4aq2 wrote

Has your mother recently moved from the Northern to Southern hemisphere, or vice versa?

https://www.planetary.org/articles/can-the-moon-be-upside-down

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BlackCatWantsThat t1_jbccy9q wrote

This is crazy and quite possibly the coolest thing I’ve learned this year. 👍

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RxTechStudent t1_jbcf0bo wrote

It was fun living in the opposite hemisphere and enjoying the moon being upside-down, I hope to see it again sometime soon

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vertigo-one t1_jbdk68e wrote

Moving closer to the equator from a northern or southern latitude would fit OP's description more, wouldn't it? The basic reason remains there same, though.

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CFCYYZ t1_jbc2ptp wrote

Don't worry about your Mom. Like the Moon, its just a passing phase.

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pmMeAllofIt t1_jbccxd7 wrote

They call it a dry/wet moon, smiling moon, or Cheshire Cat Moon, and many other names in different cultures https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet_moon

Simple answer, due to the tilt of the Planet changing the angle of the Sun as we orbit around it and the angle of the orbit of the Moon around Earth, the angle of the "line" of light changes. Depending on where you are, that line of light goes from almost vertical to more horizontal.

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KillaWatt84 t1_jbdcyfc wrote

I love that you said dry/wet moon. I grew up in the Cayman islands and an old fisherman told me when the crescent moon is on the side it's going to rain cause the moon is tipping out it's water. And when it's on the bottom it's holding the water so it won't rain.

Weirdest part is it seems to be true most times. Lol

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essaitchthrowaway3 t1_jbc2cp9 wrote

> my mother is scared of the moon

Oh boy. You could have saved us a few minutes reading your post and just said "my mom is crazy"

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MechaMaya t1_jbc3ims wrote

Wouldn't that make her a lunatic?

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Redbelly98 t1_jbcl1ow wrote

I believe the correct term would be "lunaphobe"

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Historical_Exchange t1_jbdbu3n wrote

No lunatic would be right. Ancient Greeks used to believe that the changing phases of the moon caused epilepsy among other conditions. This idea then morphed in to a general fear that the moon could cause madness, a belief that carried from the dark ages all the way up until the 1700's OP's mum.

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RngdZ t1_jbc1cv2 wrote

the moon remains the same. its just that the sun's light hits the moon from different directions as days time progress. you can do the same with a flashlight and a ball. move the flashlight around and the ball has different shadows/light zones depending on the angle you shine the light on it.

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beerhunter4430 t1_jbcbnyt wrote

The mom is probably just messing with him.

My mom used to tell me her car had an airplane button and if I pressed it we’d take off flying, and I believed it so I kept my hands to myself.

My uncle also told me when I was like 6, one of our family friends used to eat ears for breakfast. Like, human ears. Even though he was one of the nicest people I ever met, I was scared Shitless of that man until I was nearly in middle school lol

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hatesmirrors t1_jbdbx70 wrote

Man, just think about it this way. What are they lying to you about now?

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JGP_SFF t1_jbc898t wrote

The moon is in a synchronous rotation with the earth. It rotates but at a perfect rate to where it looks like it never spins. Your mom is confused.....Im confused.

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kjkfahu t1_jbdic4h wrote

It's not too perfect, lunar librations show that it makes many orbital adjustments

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Prize_Use1161 t1_jbd59kl wrote

My first exposure to different moon shape was when I traveled south from Edmonton to Mexico. What you see depends on your latitude location on the earth.

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GeekDad62 t1_jbcckza wrote

It may depend on whether she's viewing the moon rising or setting. The moon keeps the same face toward us at all times. As it moves across the sky, the "top" of the moon as the moon is rising will appear at the "bottom* as the moon sets. It's about your perspective as you view the moon... It's not upside down

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KAKrisko t1_jbc7fpv wrote

There was a short-lived conspiracy theory in 2018 about the moon having 'moved' or the earth having 'moved' due to a video posted of the moon that seemed to show it being occluded by the earth horizontally instead of vertically. It was explained at the time by a number of people (I don't remember the explanation, but it had to do with where the moon & earth were in their orbits.) I wonder if she came across the old video?

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KillaWatt84 t1_jbdcs3y wrote

It can be both depending on time of year and where you live.

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EmpatheticNihilism t1_jbdemdm wrote

Wait so does that mean the closing and opening of the moon goes the opposite way?

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1oldguy1950 t1_jbdfty4 wrote

Tell her due to the lens and structure of her eyeballs, the image projected onto the back of her eyes is upside down. That data is rushed to the rear of our brain, our occipital lobe decodes this image so that we perceive it the right way up. Is she right-eyed, or left-eyed? 🤓

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