What are the Phases of the Moon?

The Three Basic Phases of the Moon Full New Quarter

The lighted side of the Moon faces the Earth The lighted side of the Moon faces the Earth. This means that the Earth, Sun, and Moon are nearly in a straight line, with the Earth in the middle. The Moon that we see is very bright from the sunlight reflecting off it. The Full Moon

The New Moon The lighted side of the Moon faces away from the Earth. This means that the Sun, Earth, and Moon are almost in a straight line, with the Moon in between the Sun and the Earth. The Moon that we see looks very dark. The New Moon

First Quarter Moon The right half of the Moon appears lighted and the left side of the Moon appears dark.

First Quarter Moon During the time between the New Moon and the First Quarter Moon, the part of the Moon that appears lighted gets larger and larger every day, and will continue to grow until the Full Moon.

Third Quarter Moon The left half of the Moon appears lighted, and the right side of the Moon appears dark.

During the time between the Full Moon and the Last Quarter Moon, the part of the Moon that appears lighted gets smaller and smaller every day. Third Quarter

The Other Phases of the Moon

Look at the way light travels across the face of the moon. It goes from right to left. This is a very important thing to remember when you are identifying the phase of the moon. It will determine whether the moon is in it’s Waxing or Waning phases.

OR We can say it goes that way!

Waxing and Waning Waxing - Means to increase in size or to grow larger. In terms of the lunar phases it means that the light is growing larger across the face of the moon

Waxing and Waning Waning - Means to decrease in size or to grow smaller In terms of the lunar phases it means that the light is growing smaller across the face of the moon

The Waxing Crescent This phase is known as a Waxing Crescent. Just the extreme right` side of the moon can be seen. This Moon can be seen after the New Moon, but before the First Quarter Moon. The Waxing Crescent

The Waxing Gibbous This phase is known as a Waxing Gibbous. This Moon can be seen after the First Quarter Moon, but before the Full Moon. The amount of the Moon that we can see will grow larger and larger every day. The Waxing Gibbous

The Waning Gibbous This phase is called a Waning Gibbous. This Moon can be seen after the Full Moon, but before the Last Quarter Moon. The amount of the Moon that we can see will grow smaller and smaller every day The Waning Gibbous

The Waning Crescent This phase is called the Waning Crescent. This Moon can be seen after the Last Quarter Moon and before the New Moon. The crescent will grow smaller and smaller every day, until the Moon looks like the New Moon. The Waning Crescent

It takes 29 and 1/4 days for the moon to travel around our planet once Lets put all of the Lunar Phases together, how we would see the moon looking up from the earth. A H G F E D C B It takes 29 and 1/4 days for the moon to travel around our planet once

This is how the moon would look from outer space. G A E C B D

Note the light doesn’t change across the face of the moon Note the light doesn’t change across the face of the moon. What changes is what part of the moon we see from the surface of the earth. H F G A E C B D

Use your notes and identify the following phases of the moon… POP QUIZ Use your notes and identify the following phases of the moon…

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Hint: Look at the way the light is traveling across the moon… which one is first after the new moon.

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Teacher Lecture Notes

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