As the moon orbits Earth, it cycles through eight distinct phases. The four primary phases of the moon (new moon, first quarter, full moon, last quarter) occur about a week apart, with the full ...

The New Moon occurs when the Moon and Sun align. The Moon's illuminated side faces away from us, leaving it in complete shadow. This marks the beginning of the Moon's cycle in many calendars. The ...

Thanks to the Moon’s orbit around Earth, the angle of sunlight hitting ... waxing crescent, First Quarter, waxing gibbous, Full Moon, waning gibbous, Last Quarter, and waning crescent.

First quarter is when the moon is a quarter of the way around its orbit of Earth, even though the moon appears half in shadow and half in light. Waxing gibbous comes next. The word "gibbous" has ...

The Moon also offers a handy site for an offworld seed repository of Earth’s plant life, much like the Svalbard Global Seed Vault on the island of Spitzbergen. In 2017, flooding threatened the ...