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Phases of the MoonBy Moira Whitehouse PhD

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If you look at the sky, you will notice the shape ofthe Moon changes each night. These differentviews are called the phases of the Moon.

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Let’s look at the phases of the Moon on acalendar for February, 2013. Notice thatthe change from phase to phase is verygradual and takes about a month for thewhole cycle. http://www.moonconnection.com/moon-february-2013.phtml

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What causes the Moons phases?The Moon goes through phases (the view seenfrom Earth at various times in the Moon cycle)because: 1) the Moon is revolving around the Earth, 2) the Moon is reflecting sunlight towards the Earth.

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Interestingly, the same half of the Moon isalways in sunlight, (now think about that) andthe other half if it is always dark. For this reason, we can see only the portionthat is lit, which, depending on its position inthe orbit, usually gives us a view of only partof the Moon.

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Although it is really a continuous andgradual change, there are eightrecognized phases that the Moon goesthrough and they always occur in thesame order.In this repeating pattern the Suns reflectedlight moves across the surface of theMoon, in our view, from right to left.

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The Moonchangingphasesquickly over28 days(about amonth).

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The phases of the Moon are:

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As shown in the diagram, the new moonoccurs when the Moon is positionedbetween the Earth and Sun. The entireilluminated(lit up) side ofThe Moon is onthe back partof theMoon–the half thatwe cannot see. http://www.wiseg orilla.com

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The first quarter and third quarter moons(both often called a "half moon"), occur whenthe Moon is at a 90 degree angle with respectto the Earthand Sun. So we areseeing exactly halfof the Moonilluminated andhalf in shadow. http://www.wise gorilla.com

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At a full moon, the Earth, Moon, and Sunare approximately lined up, just as they arein the new moon, but this time the Moon ison the oppositeside of theEarth. As a result,the entire sunlitpart of the Moonis facing us. Theshadowed portionis entirely hidden http://www.wisefrom view. gorilla.com free clip art for educational use

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The first quarter and third quarter moons(both often called a "half moon"), occur whenthe Moon is at a 90 degree angle with respectto the Earthand Sun. So we areseeing exactly halfof the Moonilluminated andhalf in shadow. http://www.wise gorilla.com

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Although wegive names tocertain phases,each night thechange isactuallygradual.

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Select Moon Phases in the following URLfor an outstanding animation of the Moonand its phases. Select “Moon Phases” http://www.valdosta.edu/~cbarnbau/astro_de mos/frameset_moon.html

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http://astro.unl.edu/naap/lps/animations/lps.html

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The gravitational pull of the Moon, thoughless than that of the Earth, is strong enoughto causes water in the oceans to shift slightlytoward the moon as it passes overhead. Thisis seen as a rise or fall along the oceansshores that we call the tide.

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TidesThe level water on the beaches around theworld rise and fall every twelve hours.When the water level is the highest it iscalled high tide. When it is the lowest it iscalled low tide.

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high tide low tide

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low tide high tide

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: Review:•Remember we give names to the variousphases of the Moon as seen from Earth,but the rotation is continuous us, it neverstops at any phase.•The gravity of the Moon’s huge massaffects our oceans causing them to bulgetoward the Moon, causing the tides.