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The lunar cycle is the result of the interaction between the Sun, the Moon and the Earth. Discover the eight phases of the moon.
There are several myths and misconceptions about the Moon, its apparent brightness and phases.
For example, the concept of moonlight is nothing more than sunlight reflecting off the lunar surface.
The Moon simply reflects the sunlightand its bright side is experiencing the day, just like any other planet in the Solar System.
Because? Because the Moon neither produces nor emits its own light. The Sun is actually the only source of light in the solar system.
So why does the Moon change shape during the month?
The Moon completes one orbit – or revolution – around the Earth in 27.32 days, similar to the way the Earth revolves around the Sun in 365 days.
As a result, the Moon is sometimes found hidden, partially hidden, partially illuminated or fully illuminated by the Sun, depending on whether or not it is blocked by the planet we live on.
The lunar cycle
The lunar cycle takes 29.53 days – almost a month – to complete, which allows us to see it change and transform from new moon to new moon.
Interestingly and not surprisingly, the words “moon” and “month” come from the same root.
Hence, it is our perspective of the sunny aspect of the Moon changing as it orbits the Earth.
But there are more interesting facts about the lunar cycle.
Everyone on planet Earth sees the same phases of the moon.
The only difference is that those living south of the equator see the Moon “upside down” with the reverse illuminated compared to those located north of the equator.
Furthermore, although the same side of the Moon faces the Earth throughout the month, the Moon does not have a constantly dark side.
Namely, there is no perpetual dark side of the moon.
Last but least, during new moons and full moons, the Earth gets more extreme high and low tides due to the combined gravitational pull of the Sun and Moon.
The phases of the moon
The Moon is not only visible at night. We often see this during the day.
The only phases that cannot be seen during the day are the new moon and the full moon.
From an astronomical perspective, the lunar cycle is made up of four main phases and four intermediate phases.
Let’s take an in-depth look at each of the moon phases in order:
1. The new moon
The cycle of the phases of the moon begins with the New Moon.
In New Moon, the Moon appears to us on Earth completely dark and unlit because its unlit side is facing our planet.
According to modern astronomy, the new moon occurs when the Sun and the Moon are at the same geocentric ecliptic longitude.
In other words, the Moon is perfectly aligned between the Earth and the Sun.
As a result, the part of the Moon facing us appears dark and in shadow because we only see the side that is not illuminated by the Sun.
The new moon is the only time in the lunar cycle when we can witness a solar eclipse and it is the only time the moon is between the Sun and the Earth.
2. The growing moon
Once the Moon has moved along its orbit, we begin to observe its diurnal side.
The result is a thin slice of light that resembles a fingernail. It is the growing crescent, that is, a growing crescent.
At this stage, the Moon appears to be less than half illuminated by direct sunlight, although a fraction of its disk is increasingly illuminated by the Sun.
It can be seen towards the southwest in the early evening.
As the Moon begins to move eastward away from the Sun, we begin to see more of its sunlit side each night.
As the days go by, the crescent moon gets fatter in the western evening sky.
3. The first quarter moon
As it gets thicker, the Moon reaches a new phase of the lunar cycle.
The first quarter, commonly called a half moon, appears to us as if half the moon is illuminated.
However, the Moon is still between a quarter and half of its cycle.
It is visible high up in the southern sky in the early evening.
The reason it is called the first quarter moon is that it is a quarter of the lunar month.
4. The Waxing Gibbous Moon
When the days give way to the nights, the Moon reaches another stage: the waxing moon.
Gibbous means “hump” or “swollen”. By now, the Moon appears to be more than 50 percent but not exactly fully illuminated by direct sunlight.
However, the lunar disk is already well illuminated by sunlight.
It is visible to the southeast in the early evening, awake for most of the night.
At this point in the lunar cycle, the moon continues to grow and gain weight, illuminated by the sun’s rays.
5. The full moon
A full moon occurs when the moon is fully illuminated by direct sunlight.
At this point, the illuminated side of the satellite is symmetrically facing the Earth – visually speaking, it is the opposite effect of the new moon.
We can see it rising almost exactly at sunset and high in the sky around midnight.
The full moon remains visible all night and sets when the surf rises the next day.
Half of the lunar month has been completed.
6. The waning gibbous moon
The full moon marks the beginning of the reverse process and the beginning of the second half of the lunar month.
At the waning gibbous, the Moon is no longer fully illuminated by direct sunlight and its disk appears to be half illuminated.
The moon thins every night.
It can be observed rising after sunset, high in the sky after midnight and visible in the southwest after sunrise.
7. The third quarter moon
The third quarter moon reveals one side of the illuminated lunar disk and the other in darkness.
It is a mirror of the first quarter phase and can be seen around midnight and then south after sunrise.
At this stage, three quarters of the lunar month is completed.
8. The growing moon
The waning crescent moon is the last phase of the lunar cycle.
At this point, the Moon is barely illuminated by the Sun, and only a fraction is illuminated by direct sunlight.
It can be seen in the lower east before dawn.
The journey has been completed and a new moon is about to hide under the darkness of the night skies.
Phases of the moon: hours of moonrise and moonset
Do you want to know what time the rising and setting of the moon occurs?
The table below shows the approximate times of sunrise and sunset.
It does not include the necessary corrections that should be applied to daylight saving time (DST), time zone, season of the year, atmospheric refraction, horizon shape and other relevant variables.
New moon
6 in the morning | 18:00
Crescent crescent
9:00 | 21:00
First quarter
12 pm | 12 am
Waxed gibbous
15:00 | 3 in the morning
full moon
18:00 | 6 in the morning
Waning gibbous
21:00 | 9 in the morning
Third quarter
12:00 | 12 pm
Growing danger
3 in the morning | 15:00
Moon phase calculator
The Moon is located at an average distance of 238,855 miles (384,400 kilometers) from Earth.
And when it comes to the lunar cycle, it’s our view of the Moon that changes.
The Moon has a night side and a day side, just like the Earth.
The terminator, also known as the twilight zone, is the moving dividing line between night and day.
Want to know today’s moon phases? Check the current Moon Phase Calculator:
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