On the fifteenth of December, year 1997, the moon was in its initiation of its waning (way-ning) sequence, as such, being a Waning Gibbous. Therefore, in response to your question, the waning gibbous of December 15, 1997 it would be closest to a full moon however incorrect to say so. The closest quarter sequence name to give the Waning Gibbous is a last quarter moon.
A crescent? Or a half moon,full moon,new moon, crescent moon
The different shapes are called phases.New MoonFirst QuarterFull MoonLast QuarterNew MoonphasesNew moon [not visible], waxing crescent [growing crescent shape], first quarter [right half is visible], waxing gibbous [growing from half to full], full moon [complete circle], waning gibbous [shrinking from full to half], third quarter [left half visible] and waning crescent [shrinking crescent shape].Moon PhasesPhases
A waxing crescent is anywhere after New Moon but before First Quarter Moon. "Waxing" means getting bigger, "crescent" means a sliver that's less than half. "Gibbous" is anything AFTER half but less than full OR after full yet more than half.
A gibbous moon is a phase of the moon where the illuminated half is greater than the dark half but it is not full. The opposite of a gibbous moon is known as a crescent moon.
A first quarter moon is different from a waxingcrescent because a first quarter moon is half full of the the moon and a waxing crescent in only a little wedge of the Moon
On December 10, 1997 the moon was between the 1st quarter and full moon.
a half of a full moon
Waxing crescent moon - The moon appears to be partly but less than one-half full
On December 7 1962 the moon was slightly bigger than a waxing half moon.This means that the moon was visible from sunset to just past midnight.
A crescent? Or a half moon,full moon,new moon, crescent moon
The different shapes are called phases.New MoonFirst QuarterFull MoonLast QuarterNew MoonphasesNew moon [not visible], waxing crescent [growing crescent shape], first quarter [right half is visible], waxing gibbous [growing from half to full], full moon [complete circle], waning gibbous [shrinking from full to half], third quarter [left half visible] and waning crescent [shrinking crescent shape].Moon PhasesPhases
first quarter moon http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=moon+8pm+december+5+2008
A waxing crescent is anywhere after New Moon but before First Quarter Moon. "Waxing" means getting bigger, "crescent" means a sliver that's less than half. "Gibbous" is anything AFTER half but less than full OR after full yet more than half.
We see more of the moon lit when it is a gibbous moon than when it is a crescent moon, so it does seem bigger. Save
A moon goes from new to full and back. During this process it starts with just a crescent, goes to the point of being half full, goes through the waxing gibbous phase, reaches full and then starts to get smaller, going through waning gibbous, half full and back down towards a crescent and then there is a new moon. The phases start on one side and go through to the other side. So the first crescent is on the right side, in early evening, just after sunset and the final crescent is on the left side, just before sunrise.
Full, New, Quarter, Waning/ Waxing Gibbous, Waning/ Waxing Crescent, and Half.
New moon to New moon takes 29.53 days. During this time the moon goes through several phases; (New moon) Waxing crescent moon (First quarter moon - half moon) Waxing gibbous moon (Full moon) Waning gibbous moon (Last quarter moon - half moon) Waning crescent moon (Dark moon) So roughly 7.5 days between each; New-half, half-full, full-half, half-new.