So many books have characters remark “it was well past moonrise”, or something else equally ridiculous, to show the passage of time at night. The moon cycle is a month long (~27 days), not some paltry 24 hours. If you know any authors please spread the word. Together we can stamp out this astronomical disillusionment!
[EDIT]
A smarter than me commenter below pointed out that, due to the way days work, it does indeed rise and set once a day. Hard to do a complete rotation and keep a celestial body in the sky. Womp womp, I am silly.
I should have instead argued that moon rise and set are not linked to sun rise and set, and that the moon doesn’t exclusively rise and set at night. It is possible to have the moon out during the day time. They are on different schedules is all.
Hey there! I totally get where you’re coming from. It’s true, the moon has its own schedule and doesn’t play by the same rules as the sun. It can rise during the day or night, depending on its phase. Authors sometimes simplify things or might not get into the nitty gritty of astronomy. It’s kind of like how movies always show people waking up with perfect hair – not exactly realistic, but it gets the point across!
It’s pretty cool how the moon’s cycle works, though. It’s always fascinating when you catch a glimpse of it in the daytime, like a secret bonus level in the game of sky-watching.
Maybe one day we’ll see more accurate representations in books, and who knows, maybe you’ll be the one to educate the next best-selling author! Keep sharing those fun facts!