You've got me trying to work this out, though orbital mechanics is far from my strong point.
Some scattered thoughts: It's opposition to the Sun, not the time of sunrise, which makes the Moon full. According to Wikipedia, in sufficiently northerly latitudes the Moon can be above the horizon all night or be above the horizon for just a short time or not rise at all for a day. This depends on the Moon's current latitude in its orbit, not on the solar season.
The full moon has to be roughly opposite to the sun with respect to the Earth. That says you can't have a full moon when the Sun is much above the horizon. But given the Earth's axial tilt and the Moon's orbital inclination, it isn't obviously impossible (to me) that the full moon could be close to the horizon at 3 AM in England.
If someone who isn't just guessing could give a better explanation, I'd be grateful.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2018-02-12 12:36 pm (UTC)Some scattered thoughts: It's opposition to the Sun, not the time of sunrise, which makes the Moon full. According to Wikipedia, in sufficiently northerly latitudes the Moon can be above the horizon all night or be above the horizon for just a short time or not rise at all for a day. This depends on the Moon's current latitude in its orbit, not on the solar season.
The full moon has to be roughly opposite to the sun with respect to the Earth. That says you can't have a full moon when the Sun is much above the horizon. But given the Earth's axial tilt and the Moon's orbital inclination, it isn't obviously impossible (to me) that the full moon could be close to the horizon at 3 AM in England.
If someone who isn't just guessing could give a better explanation, I'd be grateful.