My+Moon

Quiz 2 didn't come up. The Phases Of The Moon: Essay The first phase of the moon is the new moon. It's when the moon is between the earth and the sun, and the side of the moon is facing the earth but it is not illuminated. After the new moon has started, waxing begins to take place. Which is when more sunlight is hitting the moon. It is considered waxing after it's over half of the moon. The sunlight is continually increasing, which is why the moon has a first quarter, and a third quarter. The first quarter is where half of the moon is visible for the first half of the evening, and then it goes down; leaving the sky very dark. When most of the moon is visible, it's considered to be in the phase of waxing gibbous. Waning gibbous is when you can see all but a silver moon. The full moon is when you can observe the whole moon and all of it is illuminated. During the last quarter, exactly half of the moon is visible. The waning crescent is when a little bit of the moon is visible. The full moon occurs when the earth, sun, and moon are in alignment. It begins waning after the full moon has taken place, which means the amount of sunlight is decreasing. This is when the moon is going through it's quarters, and the angle is affecting the look of the moon. When the new moon occurs, the side of the moon that is facing the Earth, is not illuminated. Because the moon is up during the day and down during the night, we cannot see the it during this phase. The two waxing phases of the moon are, waxing crescent and waxing gibbous. Waxing crescent occurs when part of the moon is beginning to show. This lunar sliver can be seen each evening for a few minutes just after sunset. We say that the moon is waxing because each night a little bit more is visible for a little bit longer. Waxing gibbous is when most of the moon is visible we say it is a gibbous moon. The full moon phase is where when we can observe the entire face of the moon, we call it a full moon. A full moon will rise just as the evening begins, and will set about the time morning is ushered in. The waning crescent is when observers on Earth can only see a small sliver of the moon, and only just before morning. Each night less of the moon is visible for less time. The waning gibbous is like the waxing gibbous moon, during this phase, we can see all but a sliver of the moon. The difference is that instead of seeing more of the moon each night, we begin to see less and less of the moon each night. That is what the word waning means. The transformation between each moon phase takes between 3-4 days to completely change to the next. From the new moon to waxing crescent, it takes 4 days. From waxing crescent to first quarter, it takes 3 days. From first quarter to waxing gibbous, it takes 3 days. From waxing gibbous to full moon, it takes 4 days. From full moon to waning gibbous, it takes 4 days. From waning gibbous to last quarter, it takes 4 days. From last quarter to waning crescent, it takes 4 days. From waning crescent to new moon, it takes 3 days.