We call this phase Waning Gibbous (waning meaning 'growing smaller'). Darkness begins to appear on the right hand side of the Moon. As the Moon continues in its orbit around the Earth, the lit portion of the Moon begins to disappear.
Lunar cycle diagram full#
The Sun lights up half of the Earth and half of the Moon, and we can see all of that lit half of the Moon here on Earth during the Full Moon.
The entire face of the Moon in the sky is lit because the Moon is behind the Earth relative to the Sun. Then, the entire Moon as seen in the sky is lit up.
As the Moon continues to orbit around the Earth, more than half of the view of the Moon that can be seen becomes lit. Half of the lit half of the Moon can be seen from Earth the entire right half of the Moon in the sky is visible. The Moon then continues in its orbit until it has traveled one quarter of the way around the Earth. This phase is called Waxing Crescent (waxing meaning 'growing larger'). As it does so, some of the lit half of the Moon begins to be able to be seen on Earth, appearing on the right hand side. The Moon orbits counterclockwise around the Earth as seen from space looking down on the north pole of the Sun, Earth, and Moon. Sunlight falls on the Moon, but those on Earth cannot see any of that light. To start, when the Moon appears in the New Moon phase, the Moon is in between the Sun and the Earth. The outer circle of images show what the Moon looks like during each phase for an observer on Earth in the Northern hemisphere. The cartoon at the center shows the physical positioning of the Earth and Moon relative to each other (and the Sun) at the time of each Moon phase. In this setup, the Sun is off to the right. The diagram above shows the primary phases of the Moon. This day-of-the-month-dependent viewing of different fractions of the sunlit half of the Moon is what gives us the phases of the Moon. However, at any given time, depending on where the Moon is in its orbital path around the Earth, we here on Earth may see all of the sunlit half, none of the sunlit half, or some portion of it. Half of the Moon is always bathed in sunlight, just as half of the Earth always is (and as half of all objects in the Solar System are). Because of this, the same side of the Moon always faces the Earth.
The Moon takes one month to orbit the Earth, and it takes one month to rotate on its axis. Image Analysis with Solar System Objects.Image Analysis II - Animation and Stacking.Image Analysis I - Image Processing and the Ring Nebula.Exploring the Sky II - Star Charts and Stellarium.Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram and Star Clusters.ASTR:1771 - Intro Astronomy I: Basic Astrophysics.ASTR:1080 - Exploration of the Solar System.ASTR:1070 - Stars, Galaxies, and the Universe.These are called craters and they come in all shapes and sizes. If you look at the moon through a telescope or binoculars you will see lots of round circles.
From here you will be able to see each stage as it appears in the night sky, which phase can you see tonight? Using a paper fastener carefully poke a hole through the middle of both circles.
Lunar cycle diagram download#
Download the Moon Cycle Activity sheet (PDF) below and print it out.
Lunar cycle diagram how to#
How to make a Moon Phase Wheel:įollow the instructions below to build the moon spinner and you can see the 8 different stages of the moon. Half of the Moon’s surface is always lit up by the sun, but as it orbits the Earth we are able to see a different amount of this lit half, giving us the Moon phases. The way the moon looks changes 8 times a month.
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