Navigate the Stars with Confidence: 2025 USCG Celestial Exam Adventure!

When considering the positions of the Moon and the Sun relative to your meridian, it's essential to understand their movements in the sky. The Sun and the Moon have different apparent motions due to their relative positions to Earth and each other.

The Moon generally moves eastward against the background stars and the Sun, completing an orbit around Earth approximately every 27.3 days, but it also progresses in alignment with the Sun's movement across the sky, which takes about 24 hours to return to the same position.

If the Moon is directly in line with the Sun over your meridian today, it will not be positioned at the same point tomorrow when the Sun returns to your meridian. The average rate at which the Moon moves is about 13 degrees per day. Since the Sun travels approximately 1 degree eastward each hour, in the span of 24 hours, the Moon will have moved approximately 13 degrees eastward from its position relative to the Sun.

Therefore, when the Sun is again over your meridian the next day, the Moon will be about 12 degrees east of the meridian, corresponding to the option indicating this distance. This understanding of the Moon's eastward motion relative to the Sun provides clarity on why this answer is