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Old 08-March-2006, 10:51 AM
Jason Thompson Jason Thompson is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2003
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When you say orthogonal are you projecting the line between the Moon and Sun as a straight line? If so that may be the source of youir confusion.

Remember, the Moon and the sun follow a path that appears from our point of view to be an arc. In the attached jpeg I've drawn a rough diagram that I believe represents the situation. The Moon's terminator is perpendicular to the path it traces. The arrow represents the direction you assume the sun to be in by projecting a line perpendicular to the terminator.
Attached Thumbnails
why-does-moons-terminator-not-appear-orthogonal-direction-sun-sun-moon.jpg  
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