Calendar, Moon Facts, Part 1 of 6. —Based on information presented by "Lunar Phases" in The Facts on File Dictionary of Astronomy; Edited by Valerie Illingworth; Facts On File, Inc.; New York; 1979; page 241. As the moon orbits the earth, it "grows in size" from new moon, to waxing crescent, first quarter (one-fourth of a completed revolution around the earth), waxing gibbous, to full moon. It then decreases in reverse order to waning gibbous, third (or last) quarter (three-quarters of a completed revolution around the earth), waning crescent, and back to the new moon (completing the full revolution around the earth). The same side of the moon always faces the earth because the moon rotates on its axis in the same period that it revolves around the earth. More about the Waxing and Waning of the Moon When the moon waxes, it is growing, or increasing in the size of its lighted portion, or it is becoming gradually fuller. Phases of the moon Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.
—Anonymous. Moon phases small. Phases of the Moon and Percent of the Moon Illuminated. Copyright Antonio Cidadao. Used by permission. Click on picture to see large version. From any location on the Earth, the Moon appears to be a circular disk which, at any specific time, is illuminated to some degree by direct sunlight. Like the Earth, the Moon is a sphere which is always half illuminated by the Sun, but as the Moon orbits the Earth we get to see more or less of the illuminated half. During each lunar orbit (a lunar month), we see the Moon's appearance change from not visibly illuminated through partially illuminated to fully illuminated, then back through partially illuminated to not illuminated again.
New Moon - The Moon's unilluminated side is facing the Earth. Waxing Crescent - The Moon appears to be partly but less than one-half illuminated by direct sunlight. First Quarter - One-half of the Moon appears to be illuminated by direct sunlight. Waxing Gibbous - The Moon appears to be more than one-half but not fully illuminated by direct sunlight. Lunation Movie. Phases of the Moon: Zoom Astronomy. As the moon circles the Earth, the shape of the moon appears to change; this is because different amounts of the illuminated part of the moon are facing us. The shape varies from a full moon (when the Earth is between the sun and the moon) to a new moon (when the moon is between the sun and the Earth). Definitions: Moonrise from Earth: The moon rises and sets every day, appearing on the horizon just like the sun.
The time depends on the phase of the moon. It rises about 30 to 70 minutes later each day than the previous day, so the moon is out during daytime as often is it's out at night. Enchanted Learning®Over 35,000 Web PagesSample Pages for Prospective Subscribers, or click below Click to read our Privacy Policy Advertisement. Copyright ©1999 EnchantedLearning.com ------ How to cite a web page. Moonphases. CAH5DI32CAGNAIWKCAO633J0CA1286VFCAIA2H2YCA3U2DTHCAR8JGZECASXEZ2TCAULBJE2CAU05BY4CAEA1XM6CA52FJVGCAFEF06NCAHC1IHRCAHK4W1ECAN3RPZ0CAA5WKZCCAGM0OO5.