Transcript Astronomy - mrsciguy

Phases of the moon handout
Sun: way
the heck to
the left
L
R
Full
L
New
Waning
Gibbous
R
Waning
Crescent
Last Half/
Last Quarter
Waxing
Crescent
Waxing
Gibbous
First Half/
First Quarter
Notice the changing diameter of
the Moon during the 'moonth'. As
the Moon's orbit brings it closer to
earth (perigee) at the New Moon,
it appears larger to us. Also notice
how the Moon 'rocks' up and
down and back and forth. That
happens because the Moon's
orbit takes it above the Earth's
equator (allowing us to see more
of the south polar region) and
below the equator revealing more
of the north polar region of the
Moon. The back and forth (eastwest) rocking is due to the
changing orbital velocity of the
moon.