Lunar Cycle Essay

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Through reflection, the sun's light allows you to see what you see as the moon. We see phases because the moon itself rotates while traveling around the Earth at the same time. it just is Moon phases are the different forms the Moon takes in its appearance on earth. A full moon occurs when the moons surface reflects light towards Earth. A Waxing moon is when more of the light side of the moon can be seen each night. A waning moon is when less of the light side can be seen each night. A new moon occurs when the moon is between the Sun and Earth. When a new moon appears, the dark side of the moon faces earth and light side faces the sun. When this happens, the moon is in the sky but cannot be seen. The new moon rises and sets with the sun. This is how the moon faces depends on the relative position of the sun, the moon and the earth. A lunar phase or phase of the moon refers to the appearance of the illuminated portion of the Moon as seen by an observer, usually on Earth. The lunar phases vary cyclically as the Moon orbits the Earth, according to the changing relative positions of the Earth, Moon and Sun. One half of the lunar surface is always illuminated by the Sun (except during lunar eclipses), and hence is bright, but the portion of the illuminated hemisphere that is visible to an observer can vary from 100% (full moon) to 0% (new moon). The boundary between the illuminated and unilluminated hemispheres is called the terminator. Lunar phases are the result of looking at the illuminated half of the Moon from different viewing geometries; they are not caused by shadows of the Earth on the Moon that occur during a lunar eclipse. The Moon exhibits different phases as the relative geometry of the Sun, Earth and Moon changes, appearing as a full moon when the Sun and Moon are on opposite sides of the Earth, and as a new moon (also named dark moon, as it is

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