7 moon phases

• Moon


  Does not produce light, reflects the sun's light

  
• Moon's rotation and orbit


  1. Moon rotates on its own axis

  2. Time for moon to rotate on axis equals time for moon to orbit Earth

  3. Earth orbits around the sun

  
• Moon's position relative to Earth and sun


  Determines the different moon phases

  
• New moon


  • Barely visible, Earth and moon aligned, sun and earth on opposite sides of moon

  
• Waxing crescent moon


  • Moon begins to become visible again after new moon

  
• First quarter moon


  • Moon reaches first quarter of orbit around earth, looks like half-moon

  
• Waxing gibbous moon


  • Visibility of moon getting bigger, bigger than semicircle but smaller than full moon

  
• Full moon


  • Moon is on opposite side of Earth

  
• Waning gibbous moon


  • Amount of moon visible begins to decrease, more than half still visible

  
• Third quarter moon


  • Opposite view of first quarter, looks like half moon

  
• Waning crescent moon


  • Less than half of moon still visible

  
• Lunar eclipse


  • Sun, Earth, and Moon align so Moon passes into Earth's shadow
  • In total lunar eclipse, entire Moon falls within umbra (darkest part of Earth's shadow)
  • Moon turns reddish hue, sometimes called "Blood Moon"

  
• Lunar eclipses occur when the Sun, Earth, and Moon align so the Moon passes into Earth's shadow

  
• In a total lunar eclipse, the entire Moon falls within the darkest part of Earth's shadow, called the umbra

  
• When the Moon is within the umbra, it will turn a reddish hue. Lunar eclipses are sometimes called "Blood Moons" because of this phenomenon

  
• Solar eclipses are caused by the Moon coming exactly between the Earth and the Sun, blocking all but a small shadow of the Sun's light to the Earth

  
• Lunar eclipses are caused by the Earth coming directly between the Sun and the Moon, casting a shadow on the Moon

  
• Solar and lunar eclipses do not occur every month because the Moon's orbit is tilted to the Earth's plane of orbit around the Sun

  
• The moon is always half-lit by the sun

  
• The moon phases are caused by observing the half-lit moon at different times during its orbit of the Earth

  
• Solar eclipses can only be observed by a small number of people because of the small size of the shadow
• Lunar eclipses can be observed by everyone on the night-side of the Earth