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New
Moon -
The
Moon's unilluminated side is facing the Earth. The Moon is not visible
(except during a solar eclipse).The lighted side of the Moon faces away
from the Earth. This means that the Sun, Earth, and Moon are almost
in a straight line, with the Moon in between the Sun and the Earth.
The Moon that we see looks very dark. |
|
Waxing
Crescent -
The
Moon appears to be partly but less than one-half illuminated by direct
sunlight. The fraction of the Moon's disk that is illuminated is increasing.
This Moon can be seen after the New Moon, but before the First Quarter
Moon. The crescent will grow larger and larger every day, until the
Moon looks like the First Quarter Moon. |
|
First
Quarter -
One-half
of the Moon appears to be illuminated by direct sunlight. The fraction
of the Moon's disk that is illuminated is increasing. The right half of
the Moon appears lighted and the left side of the Moon appears dark.
During the time between the New Moon and the First Quarter Moon, the part
of the Moon that appears lighted gets larger and larger every day, and
will continue to grow until the Full Moon. |
|
Waxing
Gibbous -
The
Moon appears to be more than one-half but not fully illuminated by direct
sunlight. The fraction of the Moon's disk that is illuminated is increasing.
This Moon can be seen after the First Quarter Moon, but before the Full
Moon. The amount of the Moon that we can see will grow larger and
larger every day. ("Waxing" means increasing, or growing larger.) |
|
Full
Moon -
The
Moon's illuminated side is facing the Earth. The Moon appears to be completely
illuminated by direct sunlight. The lighted side of the Moon faces the
Earth. This means that the Earth, Sun, and Moon are nearly in a straight
line, with the Earth in the middle. The Moon that we see is very
bright from the sunlight reflecting off it. |
|
Waning
Gibbous -
The
Moon appears to be more than one-half but not fully illuminated by direct
sunlight. The fraction of the Moon's disk that is illuminated is decreasing.
This Moon can be seen after the Full Moon, but before the Last Quarter
Moon. The amount of the Moon that we can see will grow smaller and
smaller every day. ("Waning" means decreasing, or growing smaller.) |
|
Last
(or Third) Quarter -
One-half
of the Moon appears to be illuminated by direct sunlight. The fraction
of the Moon's disk that is illuminated is decreasing. Sometimes called
Third Quarter. The left half of the Moon appears lighted, and the
right side of the Moon appears dark. During the time between the
Full Moon and the Last Quarter Moon, the part of the Moon that appears
lighted gets smaller and smaller every day. It will continue to shrink
until the New Moon. |
|
Waning
Crescent -
The
Moon appears to be partly but less than one-half illuminated by direct
sunlight. The fraction of the Moon's disk that is illuminated is decreasing.
This Moon can be seen after the Last Quarter Moon and before the New Moon.
The crescent will grow smaller and smaller every day, until the Moon looks
like the New Moon. |
|
Reference:
http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/moonphase/ |
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Earthshine
-
In
this actual photo from http://www.netaxs.com/~mhmyers/moon.tn.html,
you can see how the non-illuminated part of the moon is made visible by
sun light reflecting off Earth. This phenomenon can occur during
the waxing crescent phase just after the sun sets when the moon is close
to the horizon. It can also occur during the waning crescent just
before sun rise. Check out another picture
Also, this may help. |
