What are the Phases of the Moon?
Everyone knows that the Moon goes through phases, but let’s talk about why it does. It comes down to illumination, which in this case, all originates from our nearby star.
Our Moon orbits around our planet, and this Earth-Moon system orbits around the Sun.
Even though we only see light on part of the Moon, from the perspective of the Sun, half of it is always illuminated.
Stuck here on Earth, we see the Moon in various phases of illumination as it completes a 27.3 day orbit around the Earth.
As The Moon travels around us we see it pass through its phases. It goes from New Moon, to Full Moon and back to new Moon again.
Crescent Moons are when it’s less than half illuminated, and gibbous when it’s more than half.
“Waxing” means that the Moon becomes more illuminated night-by-night, and the term “waning” means that it’s getting less illuminated each night.
If you ever get the chance to travel to the other hemisphere, you’ll immediately notice how unfamiliar the Moon behaves – it’s upside down.
If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, after a New Moon the crescent begins on the right-side. But if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, it’s reversed, with the illumination starting on the left side.
Weird.
The alignment of the Sun, Earth and Moon can lead to some fantastic astronomical events.
When the Moon is new, it can pass in between the Earth and the Sun, casting its shadow down on our planet. As you know, a solar eclipse.
Most months, the Moon is either above or below the Sun in the sky, so they just don’t line up perfectly.
I hope this gives you a better understanding of why the Moon goes through its phases every month, and the interesting relationship between the Earth, the Sun, and the Moon.
How can we explore Saturn’s moon, Enceladus, to include its surface and subsurface ocean, with…
Have you ever wondered how astronomers manage to map out the Milky Way when it's…
NASA astronomers have been continuing to monitor the trajectory of asteroid 2024 YR4. The initial…
Some exoplanets have characteristics totally alien to our Solar System. Hot Jupiters are one such…
Stars form in Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs), vast clouds of mostly hydrogen that can span…
Let’s dive into one of those cosmic curiosities that's bound to blow your mind: how…