The Moon Seen From Earth

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The Moon shows progressively different phases as it moves along its orbit around Earth. Half the Moon is always in sunlight, just as half of Earth has day while the other half has night. Thus, there is no permanent “dark side of the Moon,” which is sometimes confused with the Moon’s far side—the side that always faces away from Earth. The phases of the Moon depend on how much of the sunlit half can be seen at any one time. In the phase called the new moon, the near side is completely in shadow. About a week after a new moon, the Moon is in first quarter, resembling a luminous half-circle; another week later, the full moon shows its fully lighted near side; a week afterward, in its last quarter, the Moon appears as a half-circle again. The entire cycle is repeated each lunar month. The Moon is full when it is farther away from the Sun than Earth; it is new when it is closer. When it is more than half illuminated, it is said to be in gibbous phase. The Moon is said to be waning as it progresses from full to new, and to be waxing as it proceeds from new to full.


At any one time, an observer on Earth can see only 50 percent of the Moon’s entire surface. However, an additional 9 percent can be seen from time to time around the edges because the viewing angle from Earth changes slightly as the Moon moves through its elliptical orbit. This slight relative motion is called libration.

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