The 8 phases of the moon

_Elsa_

Odus decides to share more about the phases of the moon than what he has already shared. 

“Would you like to know what causes the phases of the moon?” asks Odus.

Of course! So Odus does some googling and comes up with a good article.

‘The phases of the Moon are caused by the relative positions of the Moon, Sun and Earth. Because the Moon produces no visible light of its own, we can only see the parts of the Moon that are lit up by other objects. A small amount of light comes from distant stars and the reflection of light from the Earth (known as Earthshine). However the main source of light for the Moon is the Sun.  

At almost all times, half of the Moon is being lit up by the Sun, but this need not be the half that is facing towards the Earth. The only exception is during a lunar eclipse. 

If the Moon is between the Earth and the Sun in its orbit, then the back side of the Moon is being lit up and the side facing the Earth is in darkness. This is called a new Moon. If the Moon is on the other side of the Earth compared to the Sun, then the near side of the Moon will be fully lit up: a full Moon.’ 

“So how many phases of the moon are there,” asks Ron. 

‘In between these, the Moon goes through multiple stages of partial illumination during its different phases. These are the banana-shaped crescent Moon, the D-shaped quarter Moon and the almost complete gibbous Moon. Finally, each phase is also named after its position in the full 29.5-day cycle based on whether it is growing (waxing) or shrinking (waning). 

The eight phases of the Moon in order are:

• new Moon

• waxing crescent Moon

• first quarter Moon

• waxing gibbous Moon

• full Moon

• waning gibbous Moon

• last quarter Moon

•waning crescent Moon.

The full, quarter and new Moons are all the instants in time when the Moon is exactly fully, half or not at all illuminated from our perspective on Earth. The crescent and gibbous Moons each last approximately a week.’ (Source) 

“It looks like we knocked Timmy out with these facts,” says Odus. “That’s enough for now! I remember how frustrated you were when Timmy started asking his why questions so how about some information for you on how to survive these why questions? 

Sounds like a good idea! 

Let’s continue - Odus offers some parenting tips

Start at the beginning - Odus answers some why questions about the moon

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Start at the beginning of the main story – Why … But WHY?

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