Moon Phase is the different types of the moon as viewed from Earth. The shape changes over the course of 29.5 days. The phases are created by the changing positions of Earth, moon, and sun. One half of the moon is always illuminated by the sun. There are 4 main phases; new moon, full moon, first quarter, third/last/final quarter. There are 4 other phases between too. Eight phases in order are new moon, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning gibbous, final/last/third quarter, and waning crescent. The moon doesn't shine, it reflects.
New Moon is when the moon cannot be seen because we are looking at the unlit half of the moon. This is the only time in the lunar cycle when solar eclipse could happen, because it is the only time when the moon is between the sun and the Earth.
Waxing Crescent is the moon phase we see after a few days once moon has moved along a little in its orbit. We can begin to see some of the moon's day side from Earth. What we see is just a thin slice of light called a crescent.
First Quarter moon is sometimes called the half moon because it appears to us that half of the moon is illuminated, but its called first quarter because the moon is one quarter of the way through its cycle.
Waxing Gibbous moon. Gibbous means "humped" or "swollen", and again, we call it waxing because it grows thicker every night until it reaches the next phase, the full moon.
Full Moon is the biggest, brightest, easiest phase of the moon to see. The moon rises at sunset and is up all night, so if you are outside and the sky is clear, it's hard to miss. When the full moon comes close to the points of its orbit that are the closest or farthest away from Earth, we call it a Supermoon or Micromoon, respectively.
Waning Gibbous moon. Waning means shrinking, or getting smaller and so the moon will be waning for the rest of its orbit.
Final/Last/Third Quarter it is called like that because the moon is three quarters of the way through its orbit.
Waning Crescent moon. The half moon will shrink into a waning crescent, which will continue to shrink night after night, until in vanishes completely until the next new moon.
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