Moon Observation

Date	Time	Observing Location	Direction of Moon	Angular Height of Moon	Moon Phase
9/16	9:00 PM	MACC	E	60 degrees	Full
9/17	8:53 PM	MACC	E	55 degrees	Waning Gibbous
9/20	9:00 PM	MACC	E	45 degrees	Third Quarter
9/23	9:10 PM	MACC	E	35 degrees	Waning Crescent
9/28	8:58 PM	MACC	SE	30 degrees	New
9/30	9:00 PM	MACC	SE	45 degrees	Waxing Crescent
10/6	7:48 PM	MACC	SE	60 degrees	First Quarter
10/9	9:00 PM	MACC	E	75 degrees	Waxing Gibbous
10/12	9:00 PM	MACC	E	60 degrees	Full
10/14	9:00 PM	MACC	E	60 degrees	Full
10/21	8:52 PM	MACC	E	45 degrees	Third Quarter

The first pattern I observed was the phase of the Moon. When I began to observe the Moon, it was already half way through its cycle of phases. I observed a Full Moon on September 9 at 9:00 PM. I observed the Moon in the Waning Gibbous phase the next day at 8:53 PM. On September 20 at 9:00 PM, I observed the Moon in the Third Quarter phase. Each successive time I observed the Moon, the phase changed. After seeing the New Moon, Waxing Crescent, First Quarter, and Waxing Gibbous phases, the Moon phase became full again. This process occurred over the course of 27 days according to my observations. The moon phases are supposed to change over the course of 27 ½ days, so my observations were pretty accurate.

The second pattern I observed was the direction of the Moon. According to my observations, the Moon was located East in the sky from September 16 to September 23. The Moon was located South-East in the sky from September 28 to October 6. Finally, the Moon was located East in the sky from my next observation on October 9 to October 21. Basically, the Moon was in the same two areas of the sky for the duration of my observing period of a little over a month. I am not sure what can be drawn from these observations.

The third pattern I observed was the angular height of the Moon. On September 16 at 9:00 PM, I observed that the Moon had an angular height of about 60 degrees. The following day, September 17 at 8:53 PM, the Moon seemed to have a slightly smaller angular height of about 55 degrees. The Moon’s angular height appeared to decrease from 55 degrees to around 30 degrees, occurring on September 28 at 8:58 PM. From that day on, the Moon’s angular height appeared to increase again, maxing out at a height of around 75 degrees on October 9 at 9:00 PM. From that day, the angular height of the Moon appeared to decrease again. My last observation was on October 21 at 8:52 PM. The angular height of the Moon appeared to be 45 degrees on that day. From my observations, I learned that the angular height of the Moon changes from day to day. The angular height of the Moon actually changes with the phase of the Moon. The angular height should be greatest when there is a New Moon and least when there is a Full Moon. Most of my observations were around 9:00 PM during the course of the 27 days, so I observed that the Moon was highest in the sky when there was a Waxing Gibbous. Had I observed the Moon phases at their respective highest angular heights, I would have observed that the New Moon had the highest angular height.