Moon Phases

As the moon orbits around the Earth, from its perspective, it comes out of nowhere, grows in size, then shrinks back down to nothing as the month goes on. Whether it’s day or night, the phases of the moon can be observed from all around the world. Many people have tried to understand why the moon goes through its phases. Across the world, there are many different explanations of why the moon changes, but nothing gives us a better explanation than what science has to say about it. The light from the moon is a reflection of the light from the sun down onto Earth. One half of the moon is always illuminated, while the other half is in complete darkness. The people of Earth, however, see the moon differently. From Earth’s perspective, the moon …show more content…
The new moon occurs when the sun and the moon are on the same side of the Earth, so the moon is not seen from the Earth because it is not being lit by direct sunlight. The spring tides, or highest tides, occur during this phase. The gravitational pull from the sun and the moon are in the same direction, bubbling out the oceans. During this phase, it is best to start planting above-ground crops because the water from the ground gets pulled into the plant, keeping it moisturized during its initial growth. Once the new moon phase is over, Earthlings start to see the slightest sliver of light on the …show more content…
Though the moon is half lit, it is called the first quarter because it is a quarter of the way through its orbit around Earth. “The moon rises at noon, and is highest in the sky at sunset, and sets around midnight” (“Where’s the Moon? First Quarter.”) The first quarter comes a week after the new moon. During this phase, the ocean bubbles out, but not as intensely as a spring tide. This is called a neap tide, and it is caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun being in different directions. Once this phase is over, the moon appears to be slightly short of being fully illuminated. The waxing gibbous is the next intermediate phase, and falls between a first quarter moon and a full moon. It appears high in the east at sunset, and is more than half lit, but less than half full. It rises during the hours between noon and sunset, and sets after midnight. It can be seen in the afternoon while it is ascending in the east as the sun is descending in the west. While the gibbous moon appears almost like a circle, the next phase is when the moon is at full