Phases of the Moon
1. Earth’s moon orbits the earth in a little less
than a month.
2. It orbits the earth in a counter clockwise
direction when viewed from the North pole
3. The orbit is an elliptical pattern and therefore
the distance between the Earth and moon
changes
-perigee is when the moon is closest to us
-Apogee is when the moon is the farthest
Phases of the Moon
• The Moon orbits Earth at an average
distance of 382,400 km.
• The lunar month is the 29.53 days
• During the lunar month, the Moon goes
through all its phases.
• The phases we see result from the angle
the Moon makes with the Sun as viewed
from Earth..
Lunar phases are a result of the motion of the
moon and the sunlight that is reflected from its
surface.
Phases of the Moon
• The Universe: The Phases of the Moon
WHAT ARE THE PHASES OF THE MOON?
With your table see how many of the moon phases you can name
on your white board.
http://www.moonconnection.com/moon
_phases.phtml
WAXING CRESCENT
1ST QUARTER
WAXING GIBBOUS
FULL MOON:
WHEN THE MOON IS ON THE
OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE
EARTH SO THAT IT
REFLECTS SUNLIGHT
BACK TO EARTH
WANING GIBBOUS
3RD QUARTER
WANING CRESCENT
NEW MOON
WHEN THE MOON IS
BETWEEN THE EARTH
AND THE SUN
In each phase of the Moon, how much of the Moon is
lit up by the Sun?
Half the Moon is always
lit by the Sun
Except . . .
When the Earth’s shadow hits the Moon we have a …….
Lunar Eclipse
When the full Moon is rising in
the East, what is the Sun always
doing?
The Sun is always setting in the
West.
Therefore the Sun and Moon
180
are exactly ________
degrees
apart…try a human animation
if you are having difficulty
visualizing this.
The only exception is …
…if there is a lunar eclipse.
The changing phases of the Moon originally
inspired the concept of the month
Moon Phase Names
Starting with new moon everyone say them out loud
• New Moon
• Waxing Crescent
• First Quarter
• Waxing Gibbous
• Full Moon
• Waning Gibbous
• Third Quarter
• Waning Crescent
The Causes of Moon Phases
• Think to yourself about the answer to this question:
What causes the phases of the Moon?
Take out a piece of paper and quickly write out a
brief answer.
How long does it take to complete
the full cycle of Moon Phases?
A. About a day
B. About a week
C. About a month
D. About a year
E. None of the above
Check your answer with a partner!
Let’s Watch some Moon Phase
Animations!
Pay attention to where the Moon, Sun and Earth are
located and how the Moon appears from Earth at each of
these positions.
Look at how much of the Moon is illuminated when at
each position.
Look at which side of the Moon is illuminated when at
each position.
Animation
ZOOM IN
http://www.sumanasinc.com/webcontent/animations/content/
moonphase.html
Discuss plane of Moon’s orbit and angle.
Lecture Tutorials: Causing Moon
Phases
• Work with a partner!
• Read the instructions and questions carefully.
• Discuss the concepts and your answers with one
another. Take time to understand it now!!!!
• Come to a consensus answer you both agree on.
• If you get stuck or are not sure of your answer, ask
another group.
• If you get really stuck or don’t understand what the
Lecture Tutorial is asking, ask one of us for help.
During the full Moon phase, how much of the moon’s surface
is being illuminated by sunlight?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
None
Less than half
Half
More than half
All
During the full Moon phase, how much of the moon’s surface
is being illuminated by sunlight?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
None
Less than half
Half
More than half
All
When the moon appears to completely cover the Sun
(a solar eclipse) the moon must be at which phase?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Full
New
First quarter
Last quarter
At no particular phase
What phase is our Moon in right now?
http://www.calendar12.com/moon_calendar/2015/september
New moon
What do we mean by light fills in from the right-ish side?
Although the
Moon is always
½ lit by the
Sun, we see
different
amounts of the
lit portion from
Earth
depending on
where the
Moon is
located in its
month-long
orbit.
Label the daily
times and how
the Moon
phases are
broken up over
time on the
paper provided.
Name the
phases of the
Moon that are
shown.
1) How many phases shown in the
picture will the Moon go through in one
day?
2) How long does it take the Moon to
complete one orbit? How many of the
phases will the Moon have gone through
in this time?
3) How long does it take the Earth to
complete one rotation? How far will the
Moon have moved?
4) How much of the Moons total surface
is illuminated when it is in the New
Phase? Full Phase?
5) How much of the illuminated surface
of the Moon is visible from Earth when
it is in the First Quarter Phase, Full
Phase?
6) What time is it when the Waxing
Gibbous Phase is highest in the sky,
Rising? Setting? What phase will it be
in one week later….see next slide for
answer. SKIP RED PORTION.
Could you tell time by the phase of
the moon?
Ask your elbow partner if you think you
could? How could you?
At what time would the first quarter
moon rise?
See if you can figure it out and share with
someone.
What quarter are we in if the sun is
coming up and the moon is
overhead?
What time is it if the full moon is
directly overhead?
See if anyone close by has the same answer?
What time would it be when the new
moon would set behind the horizon?
A. 9:00 am
B. 12 noon
C. 3 pm
D. Never, there is no moon when we have a
new moon
There are in fact two definitions for a blue moon.
1. a blue moon is the second full moon in a calendar month. For
a blue moon to occur, the first of the full moons must appear at or
near the beginning of the month so that the second will fall within
the same month (the average span between two moons is 29.5
days).
2. states that the blue moon is the third full moon in a season that
has four full moons.
Lecture Tutorials: Predicting Moon
Phases
• Work with a partner!
• Read the instructions and questions carefully.
• Discuss the concepts and your answers with one
another. Take time to understand it now!!!!
• Come to a consensus answer you both agree on.
• If you get stuck or are not sure of your answer, ask
another group.
• If you get really stuck or don’t understand what the
Lecture Tutorial is asking, ask me for help.
A Moon Phase is highest in the
sky at 9 pm today. What phase
will the Moon have in three
weeks after today?
A few more resources you might enjoy!
http://www.clarkplanetarium.org/pages/nightSky
http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/moonphase/
Gives information on the different moon phases and the
times of day when they are visible.