In the New Moon phase, the Moon and the Sun are in the same part of our sky. And in turn, what we see here on Earth is the night side of the Moon. The bright side of the Moon is facing the Sun at this time. It happens when the Moon is between the Earth and the Sun. It is when the moon appears the darkest as seen on Earth. “Waxing” means the illuminated part is increasing, while “waning” means the lit part is decreasing.Ī new moon is one of eight phases of the lunar cycle. The intermediate phases between them are the waxing moon and waning moon phases. The last quarter is also called the third quarter or the final quarter, a phase when we can see only half of the moon. In these phases, the moon looks 0%, 50%, 100%, and 50% illuminated, respectively. There are four major phases of the Moon: new moon, first quarter, full moon, and last quarter. The night side takes over the illuminated portion, which gives way to the New Moon phase and a new cycle begins. We can see the day and night sides of the Moon in equal parts. The night side of the Moon starts to creep as it continues on its journey around Earth. We can see the Moon’s disk fully as the day sight faces Earth, while the Sun is on the opposite side. The illuminated part of the Moon is greater than its dark side. Half of the Moon is illuminated as it is already a quarter in its journey around Earth. We can see the first sliver of the Moon as the illuminated portion starts to grow bigger. The Moon is invisible from our point of view because the unlit part is facing the Earth. It takes 29.53 for the Moon to complete one complete cycle of these phases. These differences in appearance are what we call Moon Phases. We see this illuminated part from different angles depending on the Moon’s position around the Earth. One part of the Moon is always illuminated by the Sun, while the other is not. It circles the Earth every 27.3 days Which is also the same time it takes to rotate on its axis.Īs a result, we always see the same side of the Moon facing our planet. An object is tidally locked when its orbital and rotational periods are the same. This dance is also responsible for what we call the lunar phase or the phases of the Moon. The movement of these three bodies makes day and night. The Earth’s orbit takes it around the Sun and, at the same time, the Moon orbits the Earth. Since everything in space moves, the Sun, Moon, and Earth are involved in a celestial dance. It lights up everything, including our planet and its moon. The Sun is the only object in our solar system that produces light. Mercury and Venus, on the other hand, have none. Some planets have more than 50 moons, like Saturn which has 82. It gives us light during the night when the Sun is shining on the other side of the globe. The Moon is our planet’s only natural satellite.
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