Waxing and Waning of the Moon

The waxing and waning of the moon refers to the apparent changes in the moon’s shape as seen from Earth. This phenomenon is caused by the moon’s orbit around the Earth and how much of the illuminated part of the moon we can see from our perspective. The moon doesn’t actually change shape, but our view of it does, leading to the perceived waxing and waning. Here’s how the phases work:

1. New Moon: This is when the moon is located between the Earth and the Sun, so we cannot see the illuminated side of the moon from Earth. As a result, the moon is not visible in the sky.
2. Waxing Crescent: As the moon moves along its orbit, a small, increasing portion of its illuminated side becomes visible from Earth. This phase follows the New Moon.
3. First Quarter (or Waxing Half Moon): Half of the moon’s illuminated side is visible from Earth. The term “quarter” refers to the moon being a quarter of the way through its monthly cycle.
4. Waxing Gibbous: More than half of the moon’s illuminated side is visible from Earth, but it’s not yet a full moon.
5. Full Moon: The moon is on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun, and all of the moon’s illuminated side is visible from Earth.
6. Waning Gibbous: After the full moon, the illuminated area that we can see from Earth starts to decrease, but more than half is still visible.
7. Last (or Third) Quarter (or Waning Half Moon): Half of the moon’s illuminated side is visible, but the illuminated part is now decreasing.
8. Waning Crescent: A small, decreasing part of the moon’s illuminated side is visible as the moon approaches the New Moon phase again.

Then the cycle starts again. It takes about 29.5 days for the moon to go through all these phases, which is known as a lunar month or lunation.

― #genAI/chatgpt