The Earth, Sun, Moon and all other space objects that you can’t think of move. One of the consequences of this movement, as we all know, is night and day. When we look at the night sky, we see the Moon, but watchful eyes have noticed, the Moon does not always look the same. In each of the phases of the Moon, which is formed as a result of orbital movements, a different shape emerges.
The moon does not have its own light, it reflects the sun’s light, so it has day and night. More interestingly, we don’t always see the day side of it because its orbital rotation is not strictly circular. Let’s take a closer look at all the questions that are curious about the subject, such as what are the phases of the Moon, how it is formed, although it is a simple natural phenomenon, which looks so beautiful that we ordinary people become poets.
Let’s understand the case first; What are the phases of the moon?
The Moon is in orbit around the Earth, and the Earth is in orbit around the Sun. Just like the Earth, the Moon is exposed to sunlight and there is day and night. The Moon does not have its own light anyway, the Moonlight we see is actually the Moon’s reflection of the Sunlight it is exposed to.
Because the Moon’s orbit is not exactly linear, we cannot always see the entire Moon from Earth. These situations in which the Moon appears in different shapes are called Moon phases. The phases of the Moon consist of eight different phases that repeat every 29.5 days.
Okay, but how are the phases of the Moon formed?
Now that we understand what the phases of the Moon are, it would be more accurate to understand how it formed before moving on to its types. We said that the Moon revolves around the Earth in its own special orbit. This orbit is not exactly circular. This is why the Moon rotates faster at times and slower at times.
The Moon rotates at its fastest speed when it is closest to the Earth in orbit, and when we look at the Moon from the Earth, we see more of its eastern side. The Moon rotates at its slowest when it is farthest from the Earth in orbit, and when we look at the Moon from the Earth, we follow its western side for a long time. This movement is called freedom in longitude.
The 5 degree inclination of the Moon’s orbit causes us to see its northern and southern hemispheres. This is called latitude release. The 23.5 degree tilt of the Earth’s axis causes us to see the Moon as if it is rocking back and forth.
To sum up, we can’t always see the Moon as it is due to the fact that the Moon’s orbit is not circular, has an inclination and the Earth’s axis is tilted, and precisely because of this, the Moon’s phases are formed due to the different images that occur. Now that we fully understand the event, let’s get to know the phases of the Moon.
What are the phases of the moon? There are eight different Moon phases:
- New month
- Waxing Crescent
- First Quarter
- Waxing Hump
- full moon
- Weakened Hump
- Last Quarter
- Descending Crescent
New month:
The first phase of the Moon, New Moon, is the phase when the night side of the Moon faces the Earth, that is, the Moon is invisible. In this phase, the Moon rises and sets with the Sun. On the side that we do not see during the process, daytime is experienced. Because of its orbital inclination, it does not pass directly between the Earth and the Sun, but only near the Sun.
Waxing Crescent:
During the Waxing Crescent, the Moon looks like a kind of silver band. We see only a small part of it, as more than half of it is facing away from Earth. During this phase, the Moon’s gradual growth is followed, and the Moon appears gradually later.
First Quarter:
In the First Quarter, also known as the First Quarter, the Moon completes one-quarter of its orbital journey. Although we call it a Half Moon, in fact, only a quarter of the Moon’s rotation is completed. So we see half of the illuminated tomorrow. In this phase, the Moon rises at noon, becomes brightest in the evening, and sets at midnight.
Waxing Hump:
When we look from the Earth from the Waxing Gibbous phase, we begin to see almost all of the daytime part of the Moon. In this phase, the Moon is at its brightest compared to the previous ones.
full moon:
In the Full Moon phase, we can now see the daytime part of the Moon to the fullest. At this stage, half of the Moon’s orbital journey is completed. The full moon appears at sunset and is in the sky until sunrise. It is possible to encounter the Full Moon when we look at the sky for about a few days.
Weakened Hump:
In the Waning Gibbous phase, the Moon gradually begins to move towards the Sun. During this phase, the Moon appears smaller because it is moving away from Earth. During this phase, the Moon begins to rise later each night.
Last Quarter:
In the Last Quarter, also known as the Last Quarter, we can only see half of the Moon’s daytime segment or even less. In this phase, the Moon reaches its highest point at midnight and sets at noon the next day.
Descending Crescent:
In the Waning Crescent phase, the Moon is now almost back to its original point, the point where it is completely facing the Sun. We see nothing but a very, very thin glow that requires a thousand witnesses to say the crescent moon.
Sometimes the dark side of the Moon can shine too:
Even though the eight fundamental phases of the Moon are like this, we sometimes see a little bit of brightness even on the dark side, especially during the crescent phases. This is because of the Earth light. Since the surface of the Moon is suitable for reflection, the side that we cannot see shines with sunlight, while the side facing us that we see can shine by reflecting the light it receives from the Earth, even if it does not receive sunlight.
Do not be surprised if you see the Moon during the daytime:
Yes, it sounds a bit interesting because the Moon comes out at night, but we are sure that everyone has seen the Moon once in their life when they look at the sky during the daytime. It is a common situation especially in the first quarter and last quarter phases of the moon. If the Moon is high enough above the horizon and is close to 90 degrees from the Sun, we have no reason not to see the Moon during the daytime. Sorry, we can’t see if the cloud is too much.
We answered questions such as what are the phases of the Moon, which we see from different angles due to the rotation of the Moon and the Earth, and how it is formed. After reading this article, get up immediately and look at the sky, if you are lucky you can enjoy the Full Moon phase.
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