(Depending on where you live, you may or may not be able to see the exact moment of a phase, in part because the Moon may not have risen yet in your area.) The secondary phases, however, represent a span of time rather than a specific moment. The primary phases occur at a specific moment, no matter where you are on Earth, which is then converted to local time. There are also four secondary phases: Waxing Crescent, Waxing Gibbous, Waning Gibbous, and Waning Crescent. (See “What’s the Moon’s Age?” below for more information.)Īstronomers have broken down this cycle into four primary Moon phases: New Moon, First Quarter, Full Moon, and Last Quarter. The length of the cycle can vary slightly, but on average, it is 29.53059 days. We see the Moon’s disk change from all dark to all light to all dark again: This span of time is called a lunar cycle, lunation, lunar month, or synodic month. (The Moon itself produces no light of its own.) As a result, the amount of sunlight that reflects off the Moon and travels to our eyes changes every day. About the Moon's Phases What Are Moon Phases?Īs the Moon orbits around Earth and Earth orbits around the Sun, the angle between the Sun, Moon, and Earth changes. Moon Phases for December 2023 for Dublin, NH Moon PhaseĪll times in Eastern time.
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