Full moon ()

A lunar phase is the way we see the moon in the sky. Even though we can see the moon, the moon does not make light like the sun does. In fact, what we see of the moon is how much sunlight is reflecting off its surface. How much of the moon we see is called a lunar phase. There are eight phases of the moon. It takes 29.5 days for us to see the entire cycle of the lunar phases.

Lunar Phases ()

1. New Moon

2. Waxing Crescent (Cress-sent)

3. First Quarter

4. Waxing Gibbous (Gib-us)

5. Full Moon

6. Waning Gibbous (Way-ning Gib-us)

7. Third Quarter

8. Waning Crescent

Did you know? “Waxing” means that the part of the moon we see is getting bigger, while “waning” means it is getting smaller.