Popular Post Chas.Alpha Posted April 6 Popular Post Posted April 6 While putting the final tweaks on my “Forever astrophotography rig”, I chanced upon an article about a sun grazer comet visible just after sunset in Oz. It doesn’t have much of a chance, since as I’m typing it’s whizzing 150,000 km above the surface of the sun. A block of gold (might) survive that, not much else. I began to think what time I would have to get up to see it. Anyway, having never been South of the Equator, it got me thinking, “Are the Sun and Moon upside down in Australia?” I am ashamed to tell you that yes, they are. I should have known that, it just never occurred to me to think about it. 🤔😔 To put it more simply, if I were to use my awesome powers and placed an X on the top of the sun as it set in California, it would appear on the bottom of the sun in Oz. If you already knew that, please disregard the above post… 6 2
El Presidente Posted April 6 Posted April 6 I had to inquire Yes, they’re “upside down”but not because the Sun or Moon flips. It’s because we do. Stand in California and Australia at the same time, and you’re looking at the same sky from opposite angles. So what’s “top” for you becomes “bottom” for us. Same sky. Different perspective. 1 3
Li Bai Posted April 6 Posted April 6 Are you both telling us that there's some kind of evidence that the Earth isn't flat?? Just kidding, that's the kind of observation that makes perfect sense but one could spend his whole life without ever realising it. 1 1
Malt Posted April 6 Posted April 6 Ok so add this, what if everything north of the equator is upside down? Why does it have to be Australia? If you’re standing with a compass north is a direction horizontally and if you turn 180 degrees it’s behind you! With it behind you If you fell face first in the snow now you’re upside down to north! Just my stupid 2 cents worth! 1
Chas.Alpha Posted April 6 Author Posted April 6 11 hours ago, Malt said: Ok so add this, what if everything north of the equator is upside down? Why does it have to be Australia? If you’re standing with a compass north is a direction horizontally and if you turn 180 degrees it’s behind you! With it behind you If you fell face first in the snow now you’re upside down to north! Just my stupid 2 cents worth! Because it wouldn’t be any fun unless it’s the Aussies that are upside down.🙃
Malt Posted April 6 Posted April 6 9 hours ago, Chas.Alpha said: Because it wouldn’t be any fun unless it were the Aussies that were upside down.🙃 Well they are known as down under! I guess that’s upside down, lol! 🙄 1
Capn_Jackson Posted April 6 Posted April 6 We went to a star party for our daughters’ Girl Scout troop a few weeks ago, and it was so awesome. I hadn’t seen the astral bodies through a telescope probably in over 25 years, and it was so fascinating! Got to see great shots of the moon, multiple telescopes focused on Jupiter and its moons, and even saw a couple different glimpses of the Pleiades cluster! I was equally fascinated with all of the different setups, from primitive telescopes, to some Dobsonian monsters with a 24” on top. Those guys had trailers to haul their gear! Then I got to looking at some of the smaller rigs online for purchase, and saw that it would be about the same cost as a box of BBF, just starting meagerly. 😄 Guess I’ll wait ‘til those Girl Scouts are financially independent before buying one. 1
Chas.Alpha Posted April 6 Author Posted April 6 7 hours ago, Capn_Jackson said: I got to looking at some of the smaller rigs online for purchase, and saw that it would be about the same cost as a box of BBF, just starting meagerly. 😄 Guess I’ll wait ‘til those Girl Scouts are financially independent before buying one. For the price of the red camera at the receiving end of my humble rig, you could buy 3 boxes of BBF. 😲 Definitely not a hobby for the faint of heart. 1
joeypots Posted April 6 Posted April 6 That's one cool hobby you got there, Chas. I took the astronomy course as a junior in college. What a great course. The school had a small observatory in a dark neighborhood and the telescopes moved against the rotation of the Earth accurately enough so, if I remember correctly, we could expose film for about a half hour and still get clear pictures. It was truly an eye opener to see that little speck of light turn into a huge galaxy of stars. 1
el.barbudo Posted April 6 Posted April 6 The moon also illuminates in the the opposite direction (left to right rather than right to left) depending on which hemisphere you are in, and how far north or south. At the equator it illuminates bottom to top. Perspective! 1
Johnny Extra Posted April 6 Posted April 6 So if you are on the equator, does the sun look sideways? 1
Chas.Alpha Posted April 7 Author Posted April 7 10 hours ago, Johnny Extra said: So if you are on the equator, does the sun look sideways? Look up “Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn.” Ok, you started it… 🙂
Johnny Extra Posted April 7 Posted April 7 OK... So this got me thinking some weird stuff. Like if you could travel from far north on the globe in a straight line south at a high speed, all while continuously starting at the moon, you'd be able to watch as the moon spins around. Right? 2
Chas.Alpha Posted April 9 Author Posted April 9 On 4/7/2026 at 3:18 PM, Johnny Extra said: OK... So this got me thinking some weird stuff. Like if you could travel from far north on the globe in a straight line south at a high speed, all while continuously starting at the moon, you'd be able to watch as the moon spins around. Right? The moon is tidally locked. It shows the same face to us all… 🌓 ”Alexa, play Dark Side of the Moon, by Pink Floyd.” 2 1
Malt Posted April 9 Posted April 9 On 4/7/2026 at 7:10 AM, el.barbudo said: The moon also illuminates in the the opposite direction (left to right rather than right to left) depending on which hemisphere you are in, and how far north or south. At the equator it illuminates bottom to top. Perspective! Had no idea! Guess I should have pains more attention in school 50 years ago, I’ve never been in the southern hemisphere either though. 🙄
Johnny Extra Posted April 9 Posted April 9 23 hours ago, Chas.Alpha said: The moon is tidally locked. It shows the same face to us all… 🌓 ”Alexa, play Dark Side of the Moon, by Pink Floyd.” I got you Chas. But "spin" probably wasn't the right word for me to use. I meant; Would it appear to rotate clockwise (or counter?) with it's face towards you? Like in your example with the X at the top. I suppose you could watch the X go around the "moon clock" from 12 to 6 as you travel south super fast. Trippy... "Alexa, play Interstellar Overdrive by Pink Floyd" 🙂 1
Chas.Alpha Posted April 9 Author Posted April 9 Ok, so yes. The Aussies are completely upside down and backwards. While the sun always rises in the East and sets in the West, from their point of view this is a counter clockwise motion. For us in the (correct) hemisphere, that motion is clockwise. Good thing modern clocks were invented in the Northern hemisphere, or we’d all be confused…🤔 2
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