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Nationalgeographic.com
Universetoday.com
noaa.com

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This article gives seperate info on where the terms spring and neap came from

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A spring tide is a common historical term that has nothing to do with the season of spring. Rather, the term is derived from the concept of the tide "springing forth." Spring tides occur twice each lunar month all year long without regard to the season. Neap tides, which also occur twice a month, happen when the sun and moon are at right angles to each other.

Tides are long-period waves that roll around the planet as the ocean is "pulled" back and forth by the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun as these bodies interact with the Earth in their monthly and yearly orbits.

During full or new moons-which occur when the Earth, sun, and moon are nearly in alignment-average tidal ranges are slightly larger. This occurs twice each month. The moon appears new (dark) when it is directly between the Earth and the sun. The moon appears full when the Earth is between the moon and the sun. In both cases, the gravitational pull of the sun is "added" to the gravitational pull of the moon on Earth, causing the oceans to bulge a bit more than usual. This means that high tides are a little higher and low tides are a little lower than average.

These are called spring tides, a common historical term that has nothing to do with the season of spring. Rather, the term is derived from the concept of the tide "springing forth." Spring tides occur twice each lunar month all year long, without regard to the season.

Seven days after a spring tide, the sun and moon are at right angles to each other. When this happens, the bulge of the ocean caused by the sun partially cancels out the bulge of the ocean caused by the moon. This produces moderate tides known as neap tides, meaning that high tides are a little lower and low tides are a little higher than average. Neap tides occur during the first and third quarter moon, when the moon appears "half full."

NOAA's tide and tidal current predictions take into account astronomical considerations due to the position of the moon and the sun.

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national oceanic and atmospheric administration

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Tides are long-period waves that roll around the planet as the ocean is "pulled" back and forth by the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun as these bodies interact with the Earth in their monthly and yearly orbits.

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This image shows how the gravitational pull from the sun and moon effect the bulge of the oceans on the earth

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Space Science Tutorial: Spring and Neap Tides

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A tide just after a full and new moon. When there is the greatest difference between high and low water. When the sun moon and earth are all perfectly aligned.

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Neap tides are especially weak tides. They occur when the gravitational forces of the moon and sun are perpendicular to each other.

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In this image you see the positioning of the moon between the sun and earth, from certain parts of the earth, the moon completely shadows the sun. So from some parts of the earth where the umbra narrows down to is completely dark.

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This drawing  shows the positioning of the earth sun and moon in a load eclilse

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A solar eclipse occurs when an observer on earth passes through the shadow cast by the moon which fully or partially blocks the sun.

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I chose this article because it gave a good description of what a solar and lunar eclipse is and some new info that we havn't covered.

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This image shows how the moon is in the path of the umbra and penumbra behind the earth, which shadows the moon.

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What's the difference between a solar and lunar eclipse?

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A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes directly behind Earth and into it's shadow. This can occur when the sun earth and the moon are exactly or perfectly aligned, with earth between the other two.

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This article was a good fit because of it's good explanation of what the phases of the moon are.

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There are eight distinct phases every month, four of them occurring roughly a week apart.

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This picture shows how the moon looks from earth in each of it's phases

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Everyone knows that the Moon goes through phases, but let's talk about why it does. It comes down to illumination, which in this case, all originates from our nearby star.

Our Moon orbits around our planet, and this Earth-Moon system orbits around the Sun.

Even though we only see light on part of the Moon, from the perspective of the Sun, half of it is always illuminated.

Stuck here on Earth, we see the Moon in various phases of illumination as it completes a 27.3 day orbit around the Earth.

As The Moon travels around us we see it pass through its phases. It goes from New Moon, to Full Moon and back to new Moon again.

Crescent Moons are when it's less than half illuminated, and gibbous when it's more than half.

"Waxing" means that the Moon becomes more illuminated night-by-night, and the term "waning" means that it's getting less illuminated each night.

New Moon - When the illuminated side of the Moon is away from the Earth. The Moon and the Sun are lined up on the same side of the Earth, so we can only see the shadowed side. This is also the time that you can experience solar eclipses, when the Moon passes directly in front of the Sun and casts a shadow onto the surface of the Earth. During a new moon, we can also see the reflected light from the Earth, since no sunlight is falling on the Moon - this is known as earthshine.

Crescent - The crescent moon is the first sliver of the Moon that we can see. From the northern hemisphere, the crescent moon has the illuminated edge of the Moon on the right. This situation is reversed for the southern hemisphere.

First Quarter - Although it's called a quarter moon, we actually see this phase when the Moon is half illuminated. This means that the Sun and the Moon make a 90-degree angle compared to the Earth.

Waxing Gibbous - This phase of the Moon occurs when the Moon is more illuminated that half, but it's not yet a full Moon.

Full Moon - This is the phase when the Moon is brightest in the sky. From our perspective here on Earth, the Moon is fully illuminated by the light of the Sun. This is also the time of the lunar month when you can see lunar eclipses - these occur when the Moon passes through the shadow of the Earth.

Waning Gibbous - In this lunar phase, the Moon is less than fully illuminated, but more than half.

Last Quarter - At this point of the lunar cycle, the Moon has reached half illumination. Now it's the left-hand side of the Moon that's illuminated, and the right-hand side in darkness (from a northern hemisphere perspective).

Crescent - This is the final sliver of illuminated moon we can see before the Moon goes into darkness again.

If you ever get the chance to travel to the other hemisphere, you'll immediately notice how unfamiliar the Moon behaves - it's upside down.

If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, after a New Moon the crescent begins on the right-side. But if you're in the Southern Hemisphere, it's reversed, with the illumination starting on the left side.

Weird.

The alignment of the Sun, Earth and Moon can lead to some fantastic astronomical events.

One event occurs when the Moon is full, and it passes through the Earth's shadow. Or as you probably know it, a lunar eclipse. This causes the Moon to grow dark and then turn an eerie red color.

When the Moon is new, it can pass in between the Earth and the Sun, casting its shadow down on our planet. As you know, a solar eclipse.

You'd think we would see a solar and lunar eclipse every month, but we don't because the Moon's orbit is inclined relative to the Sun.

Most months, the Moon is either above or below the Sun in the sky, so they just don't line up perfectly.

One more thing, you might not know that Venus also goes through phases. When the planet is on the other side of the Sun from us, we see it as a nearly complete disk. But when Venus is on our side, just about to pass into the glow of the Sun, it's a thin crescent, just like how we see the Moon.

I hope this gives you a better understanding of why the Moon goes through its phases every month, and the interesting relationship between the Earth, the Sun, and the Moon.

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What are the Phases of the Moon? - Universe Today

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Everyone knows that the Moon goes through phases, but let's talk about why it does. It comes down to illumination, which in this case, all originates from our nearby star. Our Moon orbits around our planet, and this Earth-Moon system orbits around the Sun. Even though we only see light on part of the Moon, ...

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The eight phases of the moon occur when the moon takes its 29.5 day path around the earth. The moon ks always half lit but the phases are determined on how the moon is seen from the earth