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Lunar Cycle
8.7B
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Lunar cycle | As the moon orbits the earth, its appearance (the "phase") changes and thus gives us an indication of the moon's progress |
| Waning | shrinking; refers to the sunlit part of the moon we can see from Earth getting smaller. |
| Waxing | literally means growing; sunlit part of the moon we can see from Earth is getting larger |
| Waxing | to increase in light (illumination) Remember “born-right side” |
| Waning | to decrease in light (illumination) Remember “dying- left side” |
| Crescent | less than ½ of the moon is illuminated |
| Gibbous | more than ½ of the moon is illuminated |
| New-Moon | is completely dark and not illuminated |
| Full-Moon | is completely illuminated and has no darkness |
| Revolution Direction | counter clockwise |
| Length of Cycle | about a month (29.5 days) this is because the Moon must be aligned with the Earth and Sun again. |
| Illumination | sunlight reflected off the Moon (the Moon is ALWAYS ½ illuminated, BUT it depends on how much of that ½ we can see from Earth!) |