Ever feel like every time you look up at the sky at night, the moon looks different? That's because it does! The moon goes through phases each month, always in the same order. This is because the moon revolves around the earth in the same way the earth revolves around the sun.
Remember how we discussed the day/night cycle of the earth? The hemisphere facing the sun gets lit up for daytime and the hemisphere facing away has night. The same thing happens to the moon as it revolves around the earth, only we are viewing it from a different angle. Take a look at the picture below.
Remember how we discussed the day/night cycle of the earth? The hemisphere facing the sun gets lit up for daytime and the hemisphere facing away has night. The same thing happens to the moon as it revolves around the earth, only we are viewing it from a different angle. Take a look at the picture below.
![Picture](/uploads/2/0/1/1/20114429/1363598.gif?419)
This graphic shows all the important players involved in moon phases. The sun always lights up half of the moon and the earth. The half of the moon that we see depends on where the moon is in its revolution. See the numbers? The phases go like this:
1. New Moon - We can't see any of the lit side, so we see "no moon"
2. Waxing Crescent - We only see a sliver of light on the right side
3. First Quarter - We see a half circle of light on the right side
4. Waxing Gibbous - We see a mostly light circle, light on right
5. Full Moon - We see the entire lit side, which appears as a bright circle
6. Waning Gibbous - We see a mostly lit circle, sliver of darkness on right
7. Third Quarter - We see a half circle of light on the left side
8. Waning Crescent - We see a sliver of light on the left side
Here's a diagram of what we actually see from earth on each phase. Keep in mind that the sunlight is coming from the other side in this diagram, so the phases are going backwards from the picture above.
1. New Moon - We can't see any of the lit side, so we see "no moon"
2. Waxing Crescent - We only see a sliver of light on the right side
3. First Quarter - We see a half circle of light on the right side
4. Waxing Gibbous - We see a mostly light circle, light on right
5. Full Moon - We see the entire lit side, which appears as a bright circle
6. Waning Gibbous - We see a mostly lit circle, sliver of darkness on right
7. Third Quarter - We see a half circle of light on the left side
8. Waning Crescent - We see a sliver of light on the left side
Here's a diagram of what we actually see from earth on each phase. Keep in mind that the sunlight is coming from the other side in this diagram, so the phases are going backwards from the picture above.