Moon Phases

THE PHASES Light Side Dark Side OF THE SUn THE One Moon d ay (From one sunrise to the next, observed on the moon) is 29.53 earth days long and it takes almost the same amount of time for the Moon to orbit the Earth. This is due to tidal locking: A gravitational phenomenon that locks a smaller object's rotation to the larger object it's orbiting. And because of tidal locking, we can only observe the "near" side Moon of the Moon from Earth. New The period we call a "month" is the approximation of a Moon day. THE Moon) Waning Crescent THE EARTH 3 Gibbous Waning Full Moon One Earth day (from one sunrise to the next) is 24 hours long. Wayward. The Earth takes one year (365 days) to orbit the Sun. * All numbers used are approximations to keep things simple. WaywardAndSons.com --- Near Sid. Far Side Crescent LAst Quartor Waxing. rst Quar Firs Gibbous