I've observed that the full-ish moon appears to rotate clockwise a bit more than a quarter turn through the course of the night. So the rabbit's ears are near the top at the start of the night, and at or beyond three o'clock by the next morning.
I tried to find-out online why this happns.
I could not find any reference to it online (not knowing the technical term for this phenom); except for a group chat where someone asked for an explanation of this same observation, and the only answer he recieved was that the rotation did not happen, and he must be imagining it!
So, I tried to work it out for myself - and I think I came up with an explanation.
This is that - from where I am standing at 55 degrees north on the globe and at right angles to the earth's surface; when I look at the moon in the east I am actually seeing it from an angle leaning one way from the perpendicular - but when I look at the moon as it sets in the west I am now at an opposite angle from the vertical.
Since my visual system always assumes I am upright, despite that from the persepctive of the poles I am at an angle to the plane on which the moon orbits - then it looks as if the moon is rotating.
This seems to make sense to me. But if I am wrong, and the true explanation is different - do let me know.
