Moon Notes

1. Define Rotation: The Spinning of Earth

on its axis. Earth rotates once every 24

hours.

2. Define Revolution: The movement of

the Earth around the Sun. It takes the

Earth 1 year to complete a revolution.

3. What is an orbit?

• Orbit: The regular curved path the earth

follows as it revolves around the sun.

(Also known as a trajectory.)

• Helpful Hint: Earth’s orbit is an ellipse, or

a slightly elongated circle.

• Picture

4. Why does the moon shine?

• The moon reflects the light of the Sun.

• Reflection: Light from the sun bounces off

the moon’s surface.

• Helpful Hint: A mirror reflects an image

because light bounces off of it surface.

• Picture:

5. Half of the Moon is always lit up by

the sun. As the Moon orbits the Earth,

we see different parts of the lighted

area.

http://www.nasm.si.edu/apollo30th/moontheater/phasepage2.html

6. The revolution of the Moon around

the Earth makes the Moon look as if it

is changing shape in the sky. But the

moon NEVER changes its shape.

http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/birthdayphases.htm

7. This is caused

by the different

angles from

which we see the

lighted part of

the Moon's

surface. These

are called

"phases" of the

Moon.

http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/birthdayphases.htm

8. Phases of the Moon

• Phases of the Moon are different angles

from which we see the lighted part of the

Moon's surface.

• Helpful Hint: There are 8 different phases.

• Picture:

http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/

lunar/why_phases.gif

9. The Moon passes through eight phases during a

cycle that repeats itself approximately every 29

days. The phases always follow one another in the

same order:

New moon

Waxing Crescent

First quarter

Waxing Gibbous

Full Moon

Waning Gibbous

Last Quarter

Waning Crescent

10. New Moon

• The lighted side of the Moon faces away

from the Earth. The moon is almost

directly positioned between the sun and

Earth.

• It is the start of the Moon Cycle.

• Looks very dark, so we often see nothing

in the sky.

New Moon

11. Waxing Crescent Moon

• This Moon can be seen after the New

Moon, but before the First Quarter Moon.

• A bit of the sunlit side of the moon shows.

• The crescent will grow larger and larger

every day, until the Moon looks like the First

Quarter Moon.

• ("Waxing" means increasing, or growing

larger.) - Vocab. Sheet

http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/birthdayphases.html

Waxing Crescent Moon

http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/birthdayphases.html

12. First Quarter Moon

• The moon is a quarter of its way around

earth. It is in its first quarter.

• 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.

First Quarter Moon

13. Waxing Gibbous Moon

• The moon is waxing, which means

increasing , or growing larger.

• The Moon can be seen after the First

Quarter Moon, but before the Full Moon.

• Gibbous means: Greater than half, but

not full.

• The amount of the Moon that we can see

will grow larger and larger every

day. ("Waxing" means increasing, or

growing larger.)

http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/birthdayphases.html

Waxing Gibbous Moon

http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/birthdayphases.html

14. Full Moon

• Two weeks have passed since the new

moon. The entire face of the moon we

see shines.

• The lighted side of the Moon faces the

Earth.

• The Moon that we see is very bright from

the sunlight reflecting off of it.

• This means that the Earth, Sun, and Moon

are nearly in a straight line, with the Earth

in the middle.

Full Moon

15. Waning Gibbous Moon

• This Moon can be seen after the Full

Moon, but before the Last Quarter Moon.

• Gibbous means more than half, but not

full.

• The amount of the Moon that we can see

will grow smaller and smaller every day.

("Waning" means decreasing, or growing

smaller.)

http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/birthdayphases.html

Waning Gibbous Moon

http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/birthdayphases.html

16. Last Quarter Moon

• Sometimes called Third Quarter.

• The left half of the Moon appears lighted, and

the right side of the Moon appears dark.

• The moon is three-quarters of its way around

the Earth.

• It is in its last quarter phase.

• 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, when the cycle starts all over again.

Last (Third) Quarter Moon

17. Waning Crescent Moon

• A bit of the waning sunlit side of the moon

shows.

• ("Waning" means decreasing, or growing

smaller.)

• 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.

Waning Crescent Moon

http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/birthdayphases.html

http://www.opencourse.info/astronomy/introduction/04.motion_moon/moon_phases.gif

18. The moon takes approximately 27 days to

orbit Earth.

Waxing & Waning

http://www.nasm.si.edu/apollo30th/moontheater/phasepage4.html

16. Tips to Remember Waxing and

Waning

• Flatten your right hand, with your fingers together and your thumb sticking out.

• Hold your hand out at arm’s length in front of you. Tilt your thumb towards the

ground.

• See how the line along your thumb and first finger makes a curve, roughly like a

backwards letter “‘C’”? It actually looks sort of like this: ) This is the shape of the

Waxing Moon. If the Moon’s curve fits along this right-hand curve, it is a Waxing

Moon.

• Commit it to memory. One way to remember this is to think of drawing in wax. Most

people are right-handed, and if they were to draw in wax, they’d use their right hand.

So if the Moon fits in your right-hand curve, it is waxing. Say: “Wax on”

• Do the same with the left hand. This makes a shape like this: (This is the shape of

the Waning Moon. If the moon fits in this curve, you know it is getting smaller every

day, going toward the new moon / dark moon. Say: “Wane Off”

http://www.nasm.si.edu/apollo30th/moontheater/phasepage4.html

http://www.calvin.edu/~lmolnar/moon/images/phases.gif

Moon Movie

http://www.learn360.com/ShowVide

o.aspx?lid=6818736&SearchText=m

oon+phases&ID=139913

MOON QUIZ!!

http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChi

ld/solar_system_level2/moonlight.html