The Moon Looks Different Depending on Where You Stand

Not at all—the Moon’s face isn’t identical from every spot on Earth. While the Moon keeps roughly the same face due to synchronous rotation, its orientation and the appearance of its phases change with latitude and time: the same full Moon can look rotated by about 180 degrees between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, observers in Wellington vs. Los Angeles see a ~97° difference, and near the equator the crescent can appear vertical or boat-shaped. Lunar phases also shift slightly by hemisphere and season, and even which symbol for quarters you use depends on your view. In short, perspective matters more than the Moon’s actual shape.