During the summer (in Milwaukee), the sun rises in the north-east, swings to within about 20 degrees of zenith at noon, and sets in the north-west. We enjoy about 15 hours of daylight at this time of the year. During the winter (in Milwaukee), the sun is not in the sky for very long (only about 9 hours). It rises in the south-east, is only about 23 degrees above the horizon at noon, and sets in the south-west.
But what about the path of the full moon during these times?
Describe the nightly (diurnal) path of the full moon during the summer and winter in Milwaukee. You must also offer a logical explanation why this is (using your own words) in your answer. The only hint I can offer is this bit of information: The full moon rises at sunset and sets at sunrise.
Watch the path of the sun (in Milwaukee) in winter vs. summer. .wmv format (2 MB) OR .mp4 format (2 MB)
As you watch this video, you can observe a couple of things, namely:
The nightly path of the full moon in the sky is just the opposite. Namely:
In other words, the nightly path that the winter full moon takes in the sky is much like the daily path that the summer sun takes in the sky.
You can see this yourself using Stellarium. On a personal note I'm somewhat surprised how unobservant people are (except you, of course). Everyone is given ample opportunities to observe this first hand .... yet hardly anyone does!!!
There are two ways you can reason this. One is using the "opposite approach" the other is the "tilt approach"
Opposite approach:
The full moon rises when the sun sets and the full moon sets when the sun rises (that is my hint). In other words, if the sun is above the horizon, the full moon is below the horizon. Likewise, if the sun is below the horizon, the full moon is above the horizon. If one is "up" the other is "down". It is like the sun and full moon are opposites in every way.
Using this "opposite" logic, one can conclude if the day (daylight) is short, the full moon will be visible for a long time. Also, if the day (daylight) is long, the full moon will be visible for a short time. Said another way:
Length of daylight + length of full moon light = 24 hours
If all this sinks in, you must realize that the path of the full moon in winter is exactly like the path of the sun in summer. That is, in winter, the full moon rises in the north-east .... makes an very high arc in the sky, and sets in the north-west. In summer the situation is the opposite. The full moon takes the path of a winter sun. It rises in the south-east, appears low in the sky at its highest point, and sets in the south-west.
Tilt approach:
This is easy to reason if you think about why we have seasons in the first place. In summer, the sun makes this grand arch in the sky because the earth is tilted towards the sun (the ecliptic). Doesn't it make sense that during the same time, the night sky (which includes the full moon) is tilted away from the ecliptic? In that case, the full moon would behave like the winter sun (since the moon is always found near the ecliptic).