For anyone that has trouble differentiating between the moons, this chart might come in handy.
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New
Moon: At the new moon, 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 from earth appears extremely dark. |
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First
Quarter: The right half of the Moon is lighted and the left
half is dark. During the time between the New Moon
and the First Quarter Moon, the part of the Moon that appears lighted gets
larger each day, and will continue to grow until the moon is full. |
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Full
Moon: 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 and full featured from the sunlight shining directly on it.
reflecting off it. |
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Last
Quarter: Sometimes called Third Quarter. The left half of
the Moon appears light, and the right appears dark.
During the time between the Full Moon and the Last Quarter Moon, the part
of the Moon that appears lighter gets smaller and smaller each day. It
will continue to grow smaller until the New Moon, when the cycle begins all over
once more. |
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This is known as a Waxing
Crescent Moon. This Moon is 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. |
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This Moon is known as a Waxing
Gibbous Moon. This Moon is seen after the First Quarter
Moon, but before the Full Moon. Thelighter part of the Moon that we will
see will grow larger and larger each day. ("Waxing" means increasing.) |
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This Moon is called a Waning
Gibbous Moon. This Moon can be seen after the Full Moon, but
before the Last Quarter Moon. The amount of the Moon that we
see will begin to grow smaller and smaller each day. ("Waning" means decreasing.) |
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This Moon is called the Waning
Crescent Moon. This Moon can be seen after the Last Quarter
Moon and before the New Moon. The crescent will grow smaller and
smaller, until the Moon once more looks like the New Moon. |
 | The Blue
Moon. is when there are two full moons in the same month. |
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