The Lunar
Cycle
Why does the moon
have phases?
• The revolution of the Moon
around the Earth causes the
Moon to appear to have phases.
• The Lunar Cycle is approximately
27 days or 1 month.
8 Moon Phases
1. New Moon
5. Full Moon
2. Waxing Crescent 6. Waning Gibbous
3. First Quarter
7. Last Quarter
4. Waxing Gibbous
8. Waning Crescent
New Moon
•New Moon is not visible
from Earth. The moon is
between the Sun and the
Earth.
•The dark side is facing us.
Waxing Crescent
•Waxing means that
the bright side is
increasing. The right
side is the bright side.
•Crescent means that
less than half of the
moon is illuminated.
First Quarter
•The RIGHT HALF
of the moon is
illuminated.
•The illuminated side
is increasing.
Waxing Gibbous
•Gibbous means that
more than half is
visible, but it is not
quite full.
Full Moon
•The moon is
completely
illuminated.
Waning Gibbous
•Waning means that
the bright side is
decreasing. The left
side is the bright side.
Last Quarter
•The LEFT HALF of
the moon is
illuminated.
•The illuminated side
is decreasing.
Waning Crescent
•Waning means that
the bright side is
decreasing. The left
side is the bright side.
•Crescent means that
less than half of the
moon is illuminated.
• Like the earth, half of the moon is
always lighted by the sun.
• Also like the Earth, half of the moon is
completely dark.
• The moon does not really change.
We just see the different phases as it
revolves around the Earth.