The terms old moon and new moon are not interchangeable. The Moon then wanes as it passes through the gibbous moon, third-quarter moon, crescent moon, and back to new moon. As the Moon waxes (the amount of illuminated surface as seen from Earth increases), the lunar phases progress through new moon, crescent moon, first-quarter moon, gibbous moon, and full moon. When the Sun and Moon are aligned on the same side of the Earth, the Moon is "new", and the side of the Moon facing Earth is not illuminated by the Sun. Waxing and waning Diagram of the Moon's phases: The Earth is at the center of the diagram and the Moon is shown orbiting. The camera is locked to the Moon as Earth rapidly rotates in the foreground. This video provides an illustration of how the Moon passes through its phases – a product of its orbit, which allows different parts of its surface to be illuminated by the Sun over the course of a month. Photograph (view from Northern Hemisphere) Principal and intermediate phases of the Moon Moon phase Because of this, around 59% of the Moon's surface has been imaged from the ground. Lunar libration causes part of the back side of the Moon to be visible to a terrestrial observer some of the time. The effect is subtle to the naked eye, from night to night, yet somewhat obvious in time-lapse photography. Lunar libration Animation showing progression of moon phase.Īs seen from Earth, the Moon's eccentric orbit makes it both slightly change its apparent size, and to be seen from slightly different angles. Non-Western cultures may use a different number of lunar phases for example, traditional Hawaiian culture has a total of 30 phases (one per day).
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