MADE BY:KHUSHI MATTU

PHASES OF MOON

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.

WHAT ARE PHASES OF MOON

NEW MOONNew Moon – When the illuminated side of the Moon is away from the Earth. The Moon and the Sun are lined up on the same side of the Earth, so we can only see the shadowed side. This is also the time that you can experience solar eclipses, when the Moon passes directly in front of the Sun and casts a shadow onto the surface of the Earth. During a new moon, we can also see the reflected light from the Earth, since no sunlight is falling on the Moon – this is known as earthshine.

Crescent – The crescent moon is the first sliver of the Moon that we can see. From the northern hemisphere, the crescent moon has the illuminated edge of the Moon on the right. This situation is reversed for the southern hemisphere.

WAXING CRESCENT MOON

First Quarter – Although it’s called a quarter moon, we actually see this phase when the Moon is half illuminated. This means that the Sun and the Moon make a 90-degree angle compared to the Earth.

FIRST QUARTER MOON

Waxing Gibbous – This phase of the Moon occurs when the Moon is more illuminated that half, but it’s not yet a full Moon.

WAXING GIBBOUS MOON

Full Moon – This is the phase when the Moon is brightest in the sky. From our perspective here on Earth, the Moon is fully illuminated by the light of the Sun. This is also the time of the lunar month when you can see lunar eclipses – these occur when the Moon passes through the shadow of the Earth.

FULL MOON

Waning Gibbous – In this lunar phase, the Moon is less than fully illuminated, but more than half.

WANING GIBBOUS MOON

LAST QUARTER MOONLast Quarter – At this point of the lunar cycle, the Moon has reached half illumination. Now it’s the left-hand side of the Moon that’s illuminated, and the right-hand side in darkness (from a northern hemisphere perspective).

Crescent – This is the final sliver of illuminated moon we can see before the Moon goes into darkness again.

WANING CRESCENT MOON

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