Examples of different moon phases

📚 Quick Study Guide

• 🌍 The Moon doesn't produce its own light; we see it because it reflects sunlight.
• 🌑 A lunar phase is the shape of the illuminated (sunlit) portion of the Moon as seen by an observer on Earth.
• 🗓️ The sequence of phases repeats approximately every 29.5 days (a synodic month).
• ✨ The main phases are New Moon, Waxing Crescent, First Quarter, Waxing Gibbous, Full Moon, Waning Gibbous, Third Quarter, and Waning Crescent.
• 🌑 The New Moon is when the Moon is between the Earth and the Sun, so the side facing us is not illuminated.
• 🌓 The First Quarter is when the Moon is halfway through its waxing phase, appearing as a half-circle.
• 🌕 The Full Moon is when the entire face of the Moon is illuminated by the Sun.
• 🌗 The Third Quarter is when the Moon is halfway through its waning phase, also appearing as a half-circle but on the opposite side from the First Quarter.
• 🌒 Waxing Crescent: The phase after the New Moon when a tiny sliver of the moon becomes visible and grows.
• 🌔 Waxing Gibbous: The phase between First Quarter and Full Moon, when more than half of the moon is visible and growing.
• 🌖 Waning Gibbous: The phase between Full Moon and Third Quarter, when more than half of the moon is visible but shrinking.
• 🌘 Waning Crescent: The phase after Third Quarter and before New Moon, when a tiny sliver of the moon is visible but shrinking.

Practice Quiz

1. Which moon phase occurs when the Moon is between the Earth and the Sun?
   1. New Moon
   2. Full Moon
   3. First Quarter
   4. Third Quarter
2. During which phase is the entire face of the Moon illuminated?
   1. Waxing Crescent
   2. Full Moon
   3. Waning Gibbous
   4. First Quarter
3. Which phase comes after the New Moon?
   1. Waning Crescent
   2. Waxing Crescent
   3. Waning Gibbous
   4. Third Quarter
4. What phase is halfway between the Full Moon and the New Moon?
   1. First Quarter
   2. Waxing Gibbous
   3. Third Quarter
   4. Waxing Crescent
5. In the term 'waxing crescent', what does 'waxing' refer to?
   1. The moon getting smaller
   2. The moon getting brighter
   3. The moon getting bigger
   4. The moon turning red
6. Which phase comes between the First Quarter and the Full Moon?
   1. Waning Crescent
   2. Waxing Crescent
   3. Waning Gibbous
   4. Waxing Gibbous
7. What causes the different phases of the Moon?
   1. The Earth's shadow
   2. The Moon's rotation
   3. The amount of sunlight reflected by the Moon
   4. The Moon's distance from the Sun