Phases of the Moon

The moon appears to have a different shape every day. These are called the phases of the moon. Read on to find out more about the different phases.

phases of the moon!

There are eight different phases of the moon. Such as, new moon waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full moon, waining gibbous, third quarter, waining crescent.

waining cresant

All of the moon phases happen based on the position of the moon and how much of the sun's light is being reflected. The picture above shows all the phases for the month of January.

by:Lindsay Kenney

When the lit side moon appears to get bigger it is called waxing. When the dark side moon appears to be getting smaller the moon is waining.

The moon completes the full cycle of phases in 29.9 days. Thats about a month.

new moon: 0 degreescresant moons: 45 degreesquarter moons: 90 degreesgibbous moons: 135 degreesfull moon: 180 degrees