Moon Phasesby Choco Taco Evans

There are 8 moonphases. We can seethem in the night sky. The same side of themoon is always facing theEarth. Sometimes it hassunlight on it, other timesit doesn't.

Moon Phases:New MoonWaxing Crescent MoonFirst Quarter MoonWaxing Gibbous MoonFull MoonWaning Gibbous MoonLast Quarter MoonWaning Crescent Moon

Click on a moon phaseillustration to learnmore about it.

NewMoon

WaxingCrescent

FullMoon

WaxingGibbous

FirstQuarter

WaningGibbous

LastQuarter

WaningCrescent

Moon Phasesby Choco Taco Evans

New Moon~~ The side of the moonthat has light is alwaysfacing the sun.

The side of the moonthat faces the Earth isdark with night.

The New moon isbetween the sun and theEarth.

The New moon is not inthe night sky, but risesand sets with the sun.

Solar Eclipse happen inthis phase.

Moon Phasesby Choco Taco Evans

Waxing CrescentMoon~~ The side of the moonthat faces the Earth isstarting to have a sliverof sunlight on it. Therest of the moon's dayis facing away fromEarth.

The crescent moon isvisible during dusk andevening.

It is also called YoungMoon.

Moon Phasesby Choco Taco Evans

First Quarter Moon~~

The side of the moonthat faces the Earth ishalf sunlight and halfnight. The rest of themoon's day is facingaway from Earthtowards the sun.

We call it the WaxingQuarter Moon.Sometimes it is calledHalf Moon (but it isreally a quarter).

It can be seen fromnoon until midnight.

Moon Phasesby Choco Taco Evans

Waxing GibbousMoon~~ The side of the moonthat faces the Earth ismore than half insunlight.

We call this the WaxingGibbous Moon.

Waxing Gibbous Mooncan be seen at sunset.

Gibbous comes from aword meaning hump-backed.

Moon Phasesby Choco Taco Evans

The Full Moon~~ The side of the moonthat faces the Earth iscompletely in thesunlight.

The dark side of themoon is not facingEarth.

Now the moon is as farfrom the sun aspossible.

Lunar Eclipse happensin this phase.

Moon Phasesby Choco Taco Evans

Waning GibbousMoon~~ The side of the moonthat faces Earth is morethan half in the sunlightwith a sliver of night.

The moon is past full.

We call this theWaning Gibbous(hump-backed) Moon.

The moon can be seenin the early morningsky.

Moon Phasesby Choco Taco Evans

Last Quarter Moon~~ The side of the moonthat faces the Earth ishalf sunlight and halfnight. The rest of themoon's day is facingaway from Earthtowards the sun.

We call this the WaningQuarter Moon.Sometimes it is calledHalf Moon (but it isreally a quarter).

The Last Quarter Moonin seen during themorning until noon.

Moon Phasesby Choco Taco Evans

Waning CrescentMoon~~ The side of the moonthat faces the Earth hasonly a sliver of sunlighton it and more night.The rest of the moon'sday is facing the sun.

We call it the WaningCrescent Moon.

It is also called OldMoon.