Orientation of Crescent Moon

What is wrong with this crescent moon?
Click or scroll down to see the solution.

Explanation of Crescent Moon Orientation

For the figure at the top of the page, the sky is black suggesting night, but the cusps point down. The crescent moon is visible sometimes during the night and sometimes during the day. The bright side faces the sun and the points or cusps point away from the sun. Thus, if the cusps point down the sun must up in the sky and it is day. However, in comic strips we often we see the daytime crescent moon on a black background suggesting that it is nighttime. Here are some examples:

Also see: -- Incorrect Earth-Moon Kinetic

Revised: May 2, 2007