When do lunar phases occur

Our Moon doesn't shine, it reflects. Just like daytime here on Earth, sunlight illuminates the Moon. When sunlight hits off the Moon's far side — the side we can't see without from Earth the aid of a spacecraft — it is called a new Moon. The rest of the month we see parts of the daytime side of the Moon, or phases. These eight phases are, in order, new Moon , waxing crescent , first quarter , waxing gibbous , full Moon , waning gibbous , third quarter and waning crescent.

The cycle repeats once a month every During a lunar eclipse, Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon, blocking the sunlight falling on the Moon. During some stages of a lunar eclipse, the Moon can appear reddish. This is because the only remaining sunlight reaching the Moon at that point is from around the edges of the Earth, as seen from the Moon's surface.

From there, an observer during an eclipse would see all Earth's sunrises and sunsets at once. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes through the Earth's shadow, just as a solar eclipse occurs when part of the Earth passes through the Moon's shadow. The reason is that the Moon's orbit around the Earth is tilted relative to the Earth's orbit around the Sun.

Throughout the year, the Moon's orbital tilt remains fixed with respect to the stars, meaning that it changes with respect to the Sun. During the new moon, the side facing Earth is dark. Waxing means it is getting bigger. Waning means it is getting smaller. It is the opposite half as illuminated in the first quarter moon.

The Moon displays these eight phases one after the other as it moves through its cycle each month. It takes 27 days for the Moon to orbit Earth.

That means the Moon's cycle is 27 days long. In other words, it takes our Moon the same length of time to turn once on its axis as it takes it to go once completely around the Earth! Do other planets have moons? Several of the planets in our solar system have natural satellites that orbit them. Some are so recently discovered that they have not yet been named. Mars has Phobos and Deimos, two small moons that circle very close to the martian surface.

Jupiter has more known satellites than any other planet — 61! Saturn has at least 31 satellites, Uranus has 27, and Neptune has 13 — and more are being discovered all the time! Pluto has one moon — Charon — the largest moon with respect to the size of the planet it revolves around. Only Mercury and Venus do not have any known satellites.

Satellites are not restricted to planets; tiny Dactyl was discovered orbiting the asteroid Ida in ! LPI Education. Why does our Moon's shape change? Nearside view of Earth's Moon as seen by the Galileo Spacecraft.

Some say it comes from Native Americans setting beaver traps during this month, while others say the name comes from the heavy activity of beavers building their winter dams.

Another name is the frost moon. The coming of winter earned December's full moon the name cold moon. Other names include the long night moon and the oak moon. Blue moons are not actually blue, and despite the common turn of phrase, they are not especially rare.

The moon's orbit around Earth is not a perfect circle, and its distance to our planet changes over the course of an orbital cycle. When a full moon coincides with an especially close approach, or perigee, the lunar orb is slightly bigger and brighter than average, delivering what's come to be known as a supermoon. All rights reserved. Share Tweet Email. Why it's so hard to treat pain in infants. This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city.

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