The moon tilt exchange has been interesting. I believe the RE explanation for what we see has been exhausted. What no one has yet to do is fully examine the FE explanation for moon tilt.
https://wiki.tfes.org/Moon_Tilt_IllusionSo, let’s examine how EA and moon tilt would actually work on FE. We can then compare Tom’s ball experiment to what we expect.
Here’s a slight modification of the WIKI page with the moon shown as it would be at the 3rd quarter. I only did this to line up the sun direction arrow accurately with the moon’s tilt.
Below the WIKI side view, I have drawn (at the suggestion of a previous poster) what we would see looking down at the sun and moon from above them. In reality, two simple things determine moon tilt under FE and EA. First, whichever side of the moon’s terminator line a viewer is on, that side of the moon will appear facing up. This is what the WIKI side view successfully depicts. Second, whichever side of an observer the sun’s direct path line falls on as a viewer looks at the moon will be the direction which the upper side of the moon will face. So, in the illustration, observer A would see the dark side up facing right. Observer B would see the lit side up facing left. Observer C would see the lit side up facing right. Observer D would see the dark side up facing left.
The other things to mention are first, anytime a viewer is on the direct path line of the sun and moon the moon terminator will be horizontal. Second, anytime a viewer is on the terminator line the terminator will be vertical. These facts are independent of the distance to the moon and sun of the viewer. Distance only changes altitude angle, not moon tilt, in the FE-EA model.
The WIKI does a good job of explaining how moon tilt would change depending on a viewer’s orientation to the moon. However, there is an equally important element to moon tilt which it doesn’t specifically address. That is the sun’s relation to the moon. I’ve illustrated the effect below.
You can see that an observer with the same orientation to the moon will see a different moon tilt depending on the position of the sun. This becomes an important factor to the EA moon tilt discussion as the sun and moon rotate around the observer in the FE model.
With this in mind, let’s examine Tom’s ball experiment. Tom presents his own picture of the moon taken from the bay area, Feb. 21, 2021 around 5:27 PM. The lit side of the moon is clearly facing up and to Tom's right.
https://i.imgur.com/eSmtd9N.jpgHere is a diagram of the locations of the sun and moon as they orbit the north pole in relation to the bay area at that time.
The N-S line is centered near Santa Clara There are actually two horizontal lines showing the limits of Concord and Santa Cruz to the north and south. If pressed, I’ll detail the drawing but I won’t take the space up here. The intersection of the sunlight path to the moon occurs at about 45 deg. N. That’s roughly Salem, Oregon. What this clearly shows is that that Tom would be in quadrant B above (lit side facing Tom with sun line passing over left shoulder.) Based on what I detailed in the quadrants above the lit side of the moon should be facing up and left of Tom at the time the photo was taken if the FE-EA model is correct.