Expert: Tom Whiting - 1/21/2010

Question
Mr. Whiting

In a previous post I asked if one could view the moon on two consecutive nights.  I did not take into consideration the different time zones or the different parts of the world. (I was WAY off).  

I was willing to argue that one could NOT view the sky on two separate and/or consecutive days.  However, I am now uncertain.
Can other people in different cultures and/or countries (I am in Cuba, my brother is in Afghanistan, and my sister is in VA) view the same stars, constellations, and asterisms that I see?  

Answer
Yes, but not necessarily at the same time.
You in Cuba, and your sister in Virginia are basically seeing almost the same sky at the same
time.  But you in Cuba, being farther south, can see more of the southern sky which she cannot
do. (It's over her southern horizon).  But she sees the north polar sky far higher up than you do, the North star would be about 38 degress high in the north (She's at about 38 degrees N latitude) whereas you see the North star only 22 degrees high (from about 22 degrees N. Latitude).  She can see the Big Dipper just barely set in the far north, and re-rise about
an hour later, whereas you'll see it set much earlier in your Northwestern sky, because you are much farther south.  But other than those minor differences, you both see the same sky, nearly 85% of it, at the same time, because you're both at the same longitude.  You've got the advantage of seeing all that pretty stellar stuff far to the south that we up here in the
Northern USA can never see, unless we travel southward.

Since Afghanistan is nearly halfway around the world, and at about 35 N. latitude, your brother will see the same sky about 12 hours later (or before) as your sister in Virginia.  They are at
about the same north latitude.  True, the moon will have moved about 6 degrees in 12 hours, the planets will have moved almost imperceptibly, but basically it's the same sky for all... just not at the same time.
Hope this helps,
Clear Skies,
Tom Whiting
Erie, PA USA