Cosmos/Moon/Phases of the Moon: Difference between revisions

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Phases of the Moon

It takes about 29.5 days to go from one new moon to the next new moon. The Moon has "phases." That means it looks a little different to us each night. We describe how the Moon looks with terms such as "Full Moon," "First Quarter," and "New Moon".

NASA says the moon has no light of it's own, and that the light we see from it is the sun light reflecting off the surface of the moon. They also state that the moon is a sphere shaped out of the debris from a giant impact between Earth and a Mars-sized body called Theia 4.51 billion years ago.

Moon Phases

Moon	Description
🌑 New Moon	We cannot see the Moon when it is a new moon.
🌒 Waxing Crescent	In the Northern Hemisphere, we see the waxing crescent phase as a thin crescent of light on the right.
🌓 First Quarter	We see the first quarter phase as a half moon.
🌔 Waxing Gibbous	The waxing gibbous phase is between a half moon and full moon. Waxing means it is getting bigger.
🌕 Full Moon	We can see the Moon completely illuminated during full moons.
🌖 Waning Gibbous	The waning gibbous phase is between a full moon and a half moon. Waning means it is getting smaller.
🌗 Third Quarter	We see the third quarter moon as a half moon, too. It is the opposite half as illuminated in the first quarter moon.
🌘 Waning Crescent	In the Northern Hemisphere, we see the waning crescent phase as a thin crescent of light on the left.

Lunation

A lunation, also known as a lunar month, is the time it takes for the Moon to complete one full cycle of phases, from one new moon to the next new moon. On average, a lunation lasts for about 29.53 days.

To calculate the number of lunations in 354 solar days, we divide the total number of solar days by the average length of a lunation:

(The Lunar Cycle being 2 hours and 4 minutes longer than 19 Solar years does not interfere with the computation of years.)

Number of lunations = 354 solar days / 29.53 days per lunation ≈ 11.99 lunations.

So, there are approximately 11.99 lunations in 354 solar days. Since we cannot have a fraction of a lunation, we would round this to the nearest whole number, which means there are 12 lunations in 354 solar days.

Moon makes 12 revolutions to the sun's 354 revolutions But the moon is slightly slower? It takes the moon 29.5 days (29.5 360° rotations of the sun) to make ONE 360° rotation. When the sun has completed 354 360° rotations the moon has completed 12 360° rotations. 12:354 not 354:365

How many hours is the moon cycle

29.5 days
708 hours a month
8496 hours a year
161424 hours in 19 years

Gallery

New Moon
Waxing Crescent
First Quarter
Waxing Gibbous
Full Moon
Waning Gibbous
Last Quarter
Waning Crescent

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+<languages />
+<translate>
 == Phases of the Moon ==
+[[File:Moon_phase_animated.gif|right|moon phase animation]]
-It takes about 29.5 days to go from one new moon to the next new moon.
+It takes about 29.5 days to go from one new moon to the next new moon.  The Moon has "phases." That means it looks a little different to us each night.  We describe how the Moon looks with terms such as "Full Moon," "First Quarter," and "New Moon".
+[[Agencies/NASA|NASA]] says the moon has no light of it's own, and that the light we see from it is the sun light reflecting off the surface of the moon.  They also state that the moon is a sphere shaped out of the debris from a giant impact between Earth and a Mars-sized body called Theia 4.51 billion years ago.
+===Moon Phases===
 {| class="wikitable"
-|+ Phases of the Moon
 |-
 ! Moon !! Description
@@ Line 24: / Line 29: @@
 |}
+===Lunation===
+A lunation, also known as a lunar month, is the time it takes for the Moon to complete one full cycle of phases, from one new moon to the next new moon. On average, a lunation lasts for about 29.53 days.
+To calculate the number of lunations in 354 solar days, we divide the total number of solar days by the average length of a lunation:
+(The Lunar Cycle being 2 hours and 4 minutes longer than 19 Solar years does not interfere with the computation of years.)
+Number of lunations = 354 solar days / 29.53 days per lunation ≈ 11.99 lunations.
+So, there are approximately 11.99 lunations in 354 solar days. Since we cannot have a fraction of a lunation, we would round this to the nearest whole number, which means there are 12 lunations in 354 solar days.
+Moon makes 12 revolutions to the sun's 354 revolutions But the moon is slightly slower? It takes the moon 29.5 days (29.5 360° rotations of the sun) to make ONE 360° rotation. When the sun has completed 354 360° rotations the moon has completed 12 360° rotations. 12:354 not 354:365
+How many hours is the moon cycle
+* 29.5 days
+* 708 hours a month
+* 8496 hours a year
+* 161424 hours in 19 years
+===Gallery===
 <gallery>
 Moon-new.jpg|New Moon
@@ Line 34: / Line 59: @@
 Moon-waning-crescent.jpg|Waning Crescent
 </gallery>
+===Jewish Months===
+[[File:Jewish Months Screenshot 20231214 133634 Chrome~3.jpg|link=]]
+===See also===
+[[Cosmos/Moon]], [[Misc/Memes#Moon|Moon Memes]]
+</translate>