Naked Science Forum
General Discussion & Feedback => Radio Show & Podcast Feedback => Topic started by: chris on 30/05/2017 21:45:31
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Feedback for this episode of the programme - https://www.thenakedscientists.com/podcasts/ask-naked-scientists/can-sperm-survive-space - from Matthew Rice:
TNS does not do a great job answering the query. It is a hard question, but there are some simple situations that can get the caller thinking correctly.
First mention that the moon orbits the earth in (essentially) the same plane as the earth about the sun, hence the sun and moon both live in the ecliptic (along with the planets), i.e. the moon does follow the same path, but it is not seasonal, it completes the cycle in a month.
Here are some highlights:
When the moon is new (close to the sun) the moon is (obviously) in the same season as the sun (low in winter, high in summer ...)
When the moon is full (opposite the sun) it is in the "other season" (i.e. high in winter, and low in summer)
As the moon is most noticed when it is (near) full, I like to think that the moon behaves opposite to the sun, i.e. high in winter and low in summer.