Because of the rapid orbit of the Moon around us in a plane which is close to the plane in which we always see the Sun, THE MOON DOES IN A MONTH WHAT THE SUN DOES IN A YEAR, in terms of the changing rising and setting direction along the horizon. That is, the moonrise and moonset directions change like a pendulum, swinging back and forth along the horizon and completing one full swing each month. The Sun's pendulum-like swing continues much slower, with the Sun completing one full swing each year.
!!! Awesome stuff, thank you for the link.
Over the 18.6-year cycle of the Moon, THE CHANGING MOONRISE AND MOONSET DIRECTION BEHAVES LIKE A COMPOUND PENDULUM SYSTEM.
More time is spent monthly at the N and S extremes of moonrise and moonset than in the middle -- this behavior is described by the first pendulum.
And, from month to month within the 18.6-year cycle, the Moon spends more time with the monthly range of rising and setting at the outer extremes (major standstill) and at the inner extremes (minor standstill) than at the middle extremes.
It is as if the pendulum representing the monthly range of lunar rising and setting is modulated by 2 additional small coupled pendulums, one at the Sun's northern rising limit and one and the southern. When these 2 pendulums swing out we get MAJOR lunar standstill, and when they swing in we get MINOR lunar standstill.
But, so, what I get from this is fascinating -- more so than the original line from Christopher Knight I quoted via Secret Sun. It also contradicts his flat assertion that "There is no logical reason why the Moon mimics the Sun in this way." Clearly there is a reason, which is explained in that perfectly over-written Umass link. The reason raises questions of it's own, but there's a mechanical model that's more interesting than the Mystery Gloss.
(On the same note, the second half of that sentence, "and it is only meaningful to a human standing on the Earth," ...also kinda dubious. If the moon is a massive pendulum dynamo system, that probably has a major effect on the circulation of our solar system. It totally changes my visual conception of planetary systems, actually, now that I think of them as dynamo systems that are churning through the vast electric void and creating flows of molecules and random particulate space dust between worlds. Even if all that is just poetry, there's still no reasonable reason to assume this incredible earth-moon system is only relevant to surface dwellers, is there?)
Anyways, glad to see it's cooler than I thought. I like this Universe a lot, I'mma stick around.
