Have you ever looked up at the night sky and noticed the moon shining brightly? Sometimes, it looks like a big, round circle, and other times it looks like a different shape. This happens because the moon reflects light from the sun, and as it moves around the Earth, different parts of it are lit up. Let’s explore how the moon changes its shape and what these changes are called.
The moon goes through different shapes, known as phases, as it orbits the Earth. These phases depend on how much of the moon’s sunlit side we can see from Earth. Let’s learn about each phase:
During the new moon phase, we can’t see the sunlit side of the moon at all. It’s like the moon has disappeared from the sky!
Next, we see a small sliver of the moon, shaped like a crescent. This is called the waxing crescent phase, and it means the visible part of the moon is getting bigger.
In the first quarter phase, half of the moon is lit up. It looks like a half-circle in the sky.
As the moon continues to move, more than half of it becomes visible. This phase is called waxing gibbous, and the lit part is still growing.
When the entire side of the moon facing Earth is lit up, we see a full moon. It looks like a big, bright circle in the sky.
After the full moon, the lit part of the moon starts to shrink. This phase is called waning gibbous, and more than half of the moon is still visible.
In the last quarter phase, half of the moon is lit up again, but it’s the opposite side from the first quarter.
Finally, the moon returns to a crescent shape, called the waning crescent. Soon, it will become a new moon again, and the cycle will start over.
The entire cycle of the moon’s phases takes about 28 days. Isn’t it amazing how the moon changes its shape over time? Keep watching the sky, and you’ll see these phases happen again and again!
Here’s a sanitized version of the YouTube transcript:
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[Music] On a clear night, you might see the moon slowly moving across the sky. On some nights, the moon appears in the sky as a bright circle. It appears bright because it reflects the light from the sun. On other nights, the shape of the moon is different. As the moon orbits the Earth, part of the moon is lit up by the sun while the other part is in darkness. The moon appears to change shape because the part of the moon lit up by the sun changes as the moon orbits the Earth.
[Music] When the whole side of the moon seen from the Earth is lit up, we see a full round moon. When only half of the side of the moon seen from the Earth is lit up, we see the moon in the shape of a semicircle. The changing shape of the moon’s sunlit portion as viewed from the Earth is called the phases of the moon. The phases are named after how much of the moon we can see, whether the amount visible is increasing or decreasing each day. Let’s take a look at each phase as seen from the northern hemisphere.
[Music] New Moon: We can’t see the sunlit side of the moon during this phase.
Waxing Crescent: We start to see the sunlit side; it appears as a crescent shape.
First Quarter: About half of the moon is sunlit.
Waxing Gibbous: More than half of the moon is sunlit, and the sunlit side is increasing.
Full Moon: The whole moon is sunlit.
[Music] Waning Gibbous: Like the waxing gibbous, more than half of the moon is sunlit, but this is decreasing.
Last Quarter: Like the first quarter, about half of the moon is sunlit, but this time it’s the opposite side.
Waning Crescent: The moon appears as a crescent shape again and will then move into darkness to become a new moon again. The complete cycle takes about 28 days and repeats over and over.
Currently obsessed with the moon, although I think it’s just a phase. See you next time!
[Music] Don’t forget to subscribe.
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This version removes any informal language and maintains a clear and informative tone.
