The Moon
Phases of the Moon
- The Lunar Cycle is approximately 29 days, or one month.
- New Moon
- The new moon occurs when the moon is between the sun and the earth.
- None of the visible surface of the moon reflects the light of the sun.
- Solar eclipses can happen around this time of the month.
- Waxing Phase
- For about two weeks after the new moon, the moon appears to grow.
- In fact, the sun is shining on more and more of the part of the moon that we can see.
- Every day of the waxing phase, the moon appears larger than the previous day.
- Waxing Crescent Moon
- For about the first week of the waxing phase, the moon appears as a crescent.
- First Quarter Moon
- When the sun is shining on half of the part of the moon that we can see, we call it a quarter moon.
- The first quarter moon is the quarter moon during the waxing phase.
- Waxing Gibbous Moon
- For about the second week of the waxing phase, more than half of the part of the moon that we see is reflecting sunlight.
- Full Moon
- The full moon occurs when the earth is between the sun and the moon.
- All of the visible surface of the moon reflects the light of the sun.
- Lunar eclipses can happen around this time of the month.
- Waning Phase
- For about two weeks after the full moon, the moon appears to shrink.
- In fact, the sun is shining on less and less of the part of the moon that we can see.
- Every day of the waning phase, the moon appears smaller than the previous day.
- Waning Gibbous Moon
- For about the first week of the waning phase, more than half of the part of the moon that we see is reflecting sunlight.
- Last Quarter Moon
- When the sun is shining on half of the part of the moon that we can see, we call it a quarter moon.
- The last quarter moon is the quarter moon during the waning phase.
- Waning Crescent Moon
- For about the second week of the waning phase, the moon appears as a crescent.
- New Moon