Phases Of The Moon

There are 8 phases of the moon. Including the New Moon. Each happen at a different time as the progression of the moon happens. They happen to get to a Full Moon and get back to a new moon which takes some time.

The first phase is called the New Moon. It is when we can’t see any part if the moon. Although we cannot see it, the moon is still there. This is when the moon is between the sun and earth.

The second phase is called the Waxing Crescent. This is when a small sliver of the moon is lit up and showing. The sliver is on the right side of the moon. It’s in the Waxing Crescent phase until about half way.

The third phase is called First Quarter moon. This is when the right half of the moon it lit up and visible to us. It is when the moon is a quarter of the way around the earth.

The fourth phase of the moon is called the Waxing Gibbous moon. This is when 3/4 of the moon is is lit. Pretty much the entire moon is lit, and we can see about 3/4 Of the moon except for a little sliver. Sometimes it’s hard to tell if it’s still in this phase, and if there is still a sliver not lit.

The fifth phase is a Full Moon. It is when the moon is fully lit. The full moon is not the last phase it is sometimes considered the middle of the whole cycle. There are multiple names and types of full moons.

The sixth phase of the moon is called the Waning Gibbous. This is when the cycle starts to circle back to phase one. This is when there is a little sliver of the moon not lit. So left 3/4 of the moon is lit.

The seventh phase is called the Last Quarter Moon. This is when the moon is 3/4 of its way around the earth. It’s in it’s last Quarter phase. This is when the left half of the moon is lit.

The Eighth and final phase is called Waning Crescent. This is when there is a little sliver on the left side of the moon visible to us. This indicates that it is the end of the cycle.

After the waning Crescent it will go back to a new moon, and the cycle will start all over again. This cycle in total lasts about 30 days which is about a month. So around the beginning of the month, the cycle starts again.