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Why does a full moon occur when the Moon is opposite the Sun?
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Moon
(Left) Near side of Earth's Moon, photographed by the Galileo spacecraft on its way to Jupiter. (Right) Far side of the Moon with some of the near side visible (upper right), photographed by the Apollo 16 spacecraft.
A full moon occurs when the Moon is positioned directly opposite the Sun with Earth located in between the two bodies.12
Because one half of the Moon is always illuminated by the Sun as it orbits, the specific lunar phase visible from Earth depends on the Moon's position in its orbit. When the Moon reaches the point in its orbit where it is directly opposite the Sun, the entire side of the Moon that is illuminated faces toward Earth, resulting in the appearance of a full moon. Due to this specific alignment, a full moon typically rises at sunset and sets at sunrise.324