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Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

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Welcome to Britannica School , a safe, up-to-date, and age-appropriate information resource for Primary, Middle and Secondary School.

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Welcome to Britannica School , a safe, up-to-date, and age-appropriate information resource for Primary, Middle and Secondary School.

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DK Find Out! | Fun Facts for Kids on Animals, Earth, History and more!

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Visit DK Find Out! to learn about dinosaurs, space, animals, nature & more. Fun learning activities for kids with videos, quizzes & galleries at DKFindOut.com

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Built on a collection of 40,000+ popular, high-quality books from 250+ of the world's best publishers, Epic safely fuels curiosity and reading confidence for kids 12 and under.

Get Started

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online access fun thousands children great kids ebooks books

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Grade-1 Rock cycle Book Collection on Epic

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Built on a collection of 40,000+ popular, high-quality books from 250+ of the world's best publishers, Epic safely fuels curiosity and reading confidence for kids 12 and under. Get Started

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DK Find Out! | Fun Facts for Kids on Animals, Earth, History and more!

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Visit DK Find Out! to learn about dinosaurs, space, animals, nature & more. Fun learning activities for kids with videos, quizzes & galleries at DKFindOut.com

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Welcome to Britannica School , a safe, up-to-date, and age-appropriate information resource for Primary, Middle and Secondary School.

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Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

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Get unlimited access to 40,000 of the best books, audiobooks, videos, & more for kids 12 and under. Try it free.

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DK Find Out! | Fun Facts for Kids on Animals, Earth, History and more!

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Visit DK Find Out! to learn about dinosaurs, space, animals, nature & more. Fun learning activities for kids with videos, quizzes & galleries at DKFindOut.com

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Welcome to Britannica School , a safe, up-to-date, and age-appropriate information resource for Primary, Middle and Secondary School.

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Have you ever looked up at the sky and noticed how the Moon changes shape each night? Ever wondered why... And how?
Well, here's the answer - it doesn't 'change shape' at all! Let's take a look at the phases of the Moon...

Phases of the Moon

The Moon doesn't emit (give off) light itself, the ' moonlight ' we see is actually the Sun's light reflected off the lunar surface.

So, as the Moon orbits the Earth, the Sun lights up different parts of it, making it seem as if the Moon is changing shape. In actual fact, it's just our view of it that's altering...

Zoom in for a closer look!

Changing faces

The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite (a celestial body that orbits a planet). It takes the Moon 27.3 days to make a complete orbit around the Earth, but because the Earth is moving around the sun at the same time, it takes the moon 29.5 days to go through its eight different 'phases' - a lunar month.

Zoom in for a closer look!

Did you know we have a FREE downloadable Phases of the Moon primary resource? Great for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike!

When the Moon appears to be getting bigger, it's ' waxing' and when it looks like it's getting smaller, it's ' waning'. Once the face of the Moon is fully turned towards the Sun, it's a Full Moon, and we see it all. But, as the Moon moves around the Earth, the face pointing towards us gradually becomes hidden from the Sun until we can hardly see it at all - this is a New Moon. Cosmic!

Did you enjoy our phases of the Moon feature? Be sure to check out our ten top facts about the Moon, too!

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The phases of the moon | National Geographic Kids

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Learn all about the phases of the moon here at National Geographic Kids and discover why it appears to change shape each night. How long does it take for the moon to orbit Earth? Why does the moon shine bright at night? What are the names of the different phases of the moon?

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The phases of the Moon are the different ways the Moon looks from Earth over the time of about a month. The Moon does not change shape. It just looks like it does because a different amount of the Sun reflects off it each day. As the Moon orbits the Earth, the part of the Moon that faces the Sun will be lit up. When the Moon looks like it is getting larger, it is called waxing. When the Moon looks like it is getting smaller, it is called waning. Each phase repeats itself every 29.5 days.

The same half of the Moon always faces the Earth because of tidal locking. The phases we see always happen on the same half of the Moon's surface.

The moon goes through 8 major phases.

A new moon is when the Moon cannot be seen because we are looking at the unlit half of the Moon. The new moon phase happens when the Moon is directly between the Earth and Sun. A solar eclipse can only happen at the new moon.

A waxing crescent moon is when the Moon looks like a crescent and the crescent increases ("waxes") in size from one day to the next. This phase is usually only seen in the west.

The first quarter moon (or a half moon) is when half of the lit portion of the Moon is visible after the waxing crescent phase. It comes a week after the new moon.

A waxing gibbous moon is when more than half of the lit portion of the Moon can be seen and the shape increases ("waxes") in size from one day to the next. The waxing gibbous phase happens between the first quarter and full moon phases.

A is when we can see the entire half of the Moon. The full moon phase happens when the Moon is on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun, called opposition. A lunar eclipse can only happen at a full moon.

A waning gibbous moon is when more than half of the lit portion of the Moon can be seen and the shape decreases ("wanes") in size from one day to the next. The waning gibbous phase happens between the full moon and third quarter phases.

The last quarter moon (or a half moon) is when half of the lit portion of the Moon is visible after the waning gibbous phase.

A waning crescent moon is when the Moon looks like a crescent and the crescent decreases ("wanes") in size from one day to the next. This is the end of the phases. After the waning crescent moon, the phases begin again.

A second full moon in one calendar month is usually called a "blue moon" and this happens approximately every 3 years. The idiom "Once in a blue moon" refers to something that does not happen often (like a blue moon).

Super Pink Moon

A supermoon or Super Pink Moon occurs when the Moon's orbit is closest to the Earth. Supermoons take place each year between March and May. Because the Moon is extremely close to Earth, the full moon appears up to 7% larger and 15% brighter than a regular full moon. Traditionally, any full moon that happened in April was called a pink moon because it marked the blooming of moss pink, a wildflower.

Interesting facts about the phases of the moon

The Moon is the earth's only permanent natural satellite.

The Moon's surface is dark. The parts we see from Earth are light reflected from the Sun.

The Moon is 400 times smaller than the Sun and 400 times closer to Earth.

The Moon causes the tides in the ocean.

Gravity on the Moon is much weaker than gravity on the Earth.

A lunar eclipse is when the Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon and a shadow is cast on the Moon.

A solar eclipse is when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth and a shadow is cast on the Earth's surface.

From the Moon, the Earth appears to go through phases as well. They are opposite the Moon's phases: it is a full Earth when it is a new moon for us.

Related pages

Images for kids

Animation showing the progression of the moon phase.

The phases of the Moon as viewed looking southward from the Northern Hemisphere. Each phase would be rotated 180° if seen looking northward from the Southern Hemisphere. The upper part of the diagram is not to scale, as the Moon is much farther from Earth than shown here.

An overexposed photograph of a crescent Moon reveals earthshine and stars.

May-June 2005 calendar of lunar phases

In Spanish: Fase lunar para niños