What Are The Four Main Moon Phases – The moon goes through a cycle of phases each month that changes our view of the moon based on its position in relation to the Earth and the Sun. The moon phase shows the illuminated part of the moon that is being illuminated by the Sun.

The above information is for the Northern Hemisphere. In the southern hemisphere, opposite sides appear to increase or decrease.

What Are The Four Main Moon Phases

Below is a calendar showing the current moon phase for this month. You can scroll through different months (and years) to see the date of future full moons.

Phases Of Moon

You can also use today’s moon phase from Moon Giant. This will tell you the current moon cycle for today’s date.

You can also use the tool below to see the current moon phase for today’s date. This widget was provided by In-The-Sky.org, a website that includes many astronomy tools, including a night sky guide and an interactive planetarium.

It can be helpful to know a little about the moon’s orbit to understand what is happening during each of the moon’s phases.

The Moon takes the same amount of time to orbit the Earth as it does to complete a full rotation on its axis (ie, approximately 27 Earth days). This orbit has been affected by the Earth’s gravitational pull which has helped slow the Moon’s orbit causing the Moon and Earth to synchronize.

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Because of this synchronization, we only see the “near side” of the Moon from Earth, which is only half of the total lunar surface. The amount of near side that is seen depends on the amount of sunlight available.

As mentioned above, the moon goes through a cycle of phases each month as it orbits the Earth and each phase depends on the moon’s position relative to the Sun.

The phase of the moon as seen from Earth is the portion of the moon that illuminates the Sun, which can vary from zero percent illuminated (new moon) to 100 percent illuminated (full moon ).

This means that our view of the illuminated part of the moon changes as the moon orbits the Earth, making its way through the different phases of the moon.

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For example, in the new moon phase, the moon is a complete shadow. As the moon continues to orbit the Earth, the visible area grows (i.e. the waxes) until a fully illuminated moon. The phases will then be reversed where the visible area decreases (i.e. decreases).

It is called a “new moon” because it marks the beginning of a new lunar cycle. During this phase, the Sun and Moon are in conjunction and are aligned on the same side of the Earth.

During the new moon phase, the moon appears completely dark while we are facing its shadow side, which is not illuminated by direct sunlight. This is the best time to observe and photograph deep sky objects.

The waxing moon phase occurs between the new moon and first quarter phases. This phase shows a beautiful crescent moon, appearing on the right side (in the northern hemisphere).

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As each day passes, the illuminated area of ​​the moon gradually widens, covering more of the moon’s surface until the first quarter phase.

The first quarter moon phase can be a bit confusing for beginners. It is so called because, at this point, the moon has completed about a quarter of its orbit around the Earth.

However, from our perspective, half of the moon’s surface is illuminated (not a quarter). Some people refer to the first and last quarter moon phases as “Half Moons”.

The waxing gibbous moon phase occurs between the first quarter and full moon phases. It is characterized by the fact that the Moon is more than half illuminated, but not yet completely.

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The word “gibbous” is a Latin word that refers to a convex shape or bulging outward on one side, similar to a hump or a rounded curve.

During a “full moon,” the entire disk of the moon appears to be illuminated from our vantage point on Earth. The Sun and the Moon are in opposition, located on opposite sides of the Earth.

If the full Moon’s position is properly aligned with the Sun and the Earth, it can pass through the Earth’s shadow, resulting in a lunar eclipse.

Each month’s full moon has a different name. For example, the full moon in September is known as the “harvest moon”.

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The waxing gibbous moon phase takes place between the full moon and the last quarter. It depicts the Moon when it is more than half lit, but not fully lit.

At the beginning of this stage in the northern hemisphere, we see an almost completely illuminated disk, except for a small particle on the right side that remains in the dark.

The last quarter moon phase is so called because the moon has now completed approximately three quarters of its orbit.

In the northern hemisphere, the left half of the moon is illuminated. Some people refer to this lunar phase as the “third trimester”.

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The waning crescent moon phase falls between the last quarter and new moon phases. At the beginning of this stage (in the northern hemisphere) the entire left side of the moon is almost completely illuminated.

As the days pass, the illuminated area gradually diminishes, covering less and less of the Moon’s surface until it appears as a very thin crescent on the left side.

The best time to see the moon in its late waning crescent stages is before sunrise, when the sky is still dark in the morning.

The dates and times of these phases change each month given the amount of time it takes the Moon to orbit the Earth (27 days) and the approximate time it takes to complete one cycle of phases (29.5 days), known as in synodical month.

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The intermediate phases last, on average, a quarter (ie 7.4 days) of the synodic month, while the long duration between the full moon and the new moon (or vice versa) lasts approximately 15 days.

If you are an astrophotographer, knowing the current phase of the moon is not new to you. A full moon can make astrophotography difficult, as the moon reflects bright sunlight across the sky, washing out faint deep-sky objects.

It can also create less contrast and detail in images you capture during a full moon. For these reasons, your best chance for astrophotography is on a clear night during a new moon.

Astrophotography during a full moon is possible, but you will need to make some changes to your equipment and the targets you shoot.

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For example, selecting only bright objects far from the moon, choosing star clusters above nebulae, shooting narrowband Ha, and using light pollution filters.

Planets are much brighter than deep sky objects like galaxies and nebulae. The big, bright (from our perspective on Earth) planets like Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are relatively easy to photograph with modest equipment.

The nights surrounding the full moon are a great time to photograph our solar system neighbors at high magnification. Here is an image of the planet Jupiter captured with a bright (80% illuminated) moon nearby.

You can use moonlight to help illuminate a night landscape, creating an image that reveals stars and constellations, and a moonlit foreground below. A waxing full moon presents a fantastic opportunity to capture the moon in interesting foreground detail in front of it.

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The haunting colors of a full moon through Earth’s atmosphere make for a dramatic scene. The image below was captured from a farmer’s field as a “supermoon” rose in the fall.

There are many stargazing websites and mobile apps available today that will provide a moon phase calendar. So, if you’re interested in skipping the complicated math formulas to determine the cycle, you might want to check out some of these resources. Below are a few for your reference.

Features: See the moon cycle for any date, see how cloudy the sky is expected to be, the moon’s distance from Earth, receive notifications when the moon reaches a certain phase, and more.

Features: Graphic representation of the moon phase for your location, including dates of the next full moon and first quarter phases. It also breaks down the moon phases of the year into new moon, first quarter, full moon and third quarter for your location and provides a separate chart showing this information. How do the phases of the moon work? We explain what happens and show how the shape of the Moon and moonrise times change during a lunar month.

The Moon And Its Phases

Half of the Moon’s surface is always illuminated by sunlight. As the Moon orbits the Earth, it changes how much of the illuminated side we can see.

The eight lunar phases of a lunar month are divided into four primary and four intermediate (waxing and waxing) lunar phases:

The primary phases of the Moon occur at a specific moment in time, while the time between these moments are the intermediate phases of the Moon. The lunar cycle lasts about 29.5 days, just under a calendar month.

If the Moon’s path crosses the plane of Earth’s orbit around the Sun (the ecliptic) while the Sun, Moon, and Earth are aligned at New Moon, a solar eclipse occurs somewhere in the world.

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New Moon: The Moon is between the Sun and the Earth. Only the dark, unlit side of the Moon is facing us.

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