Monday,  October 1, 2012 • Vol. 13--No. 076 • 10 of 27 •  Other Editions

bit. Because the waning gibbous moon now rises farther north along the horizon each day, this causes the moon to rise sooner than the average 50 minutes later daily in the Northern Hemisphere. The farther north you live, the shorter the period of time between successive moonrises.
• Why? The reason is the ecliptic - the sun's annual path or the moon's monthly path eastward in front of the stars. The ecliptic makes its narrowest angle with the horizon in the evening, every autumn.
• In the Southern Hemisphere - where it's spring - the ecliptic hits the horizon at a steep angle, so the moon rises later after sunset.
• In the Southern hemisphere, where it's spring, the ecliptic makes its steepest angle with the horizon at evening. So the period of time between successive moon

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