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The part of the moon that one can see is visible because it is illuminated by the sun. The crossing of the earth between the sun and the moon causes a shadow that will darken part of the moon.
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∙ 11y ago
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In a lunar eclipse what blocks us from seeing the moon?
The earth
Are you seeing into the past when you look at the moon?
Yes but only about 1.3 seconds ago as this is how long light takes to reach us from the Moon.
Where is the US flag never flown at half staff?
The moon
Why does the moon look at different times of the month?
As the moon orbits around the Earth there are different phases. When we see the moon it is because the light from the sun is being reflected off it.Phases:The new moon is when it's not visible because it is between the Earth and the sun.The first quarter moon is when the right side is visible because it faces both us and the sun.The full moon is when the moon is a complete circle in the sky because it fully faces both us and the sun.The third Quarter moon is when the left side is visible because it faces us and the sun.The Moon is always the same shape; it's a ball of rock.It LOOKS different from night to night, because it goes around the Earth, once in about 28 days. It rotates once in exactly the same time. So we always see the same part of the Moon.Remember that just like the Earth, the Sun always shines on half of the Moon, and the other half of the Moon is "night".As the Moon orbits the Earth, different places on the Moon are in sunlight.When the Moon is "new", it's the "daytime" half of the Moon that is facing away from us, and we're seeing the night half.A couple of days later, the Moon has gone 1/14th of the way around its orbit, and we can see just a bit of the daytime side of the Moon.After a few more days, we can see half of the Moon lit up - but if you look very closely, you can see the "dark" half of the Moon as well, being faintly illuminated by reflected Earthlight!A week later, and the Moon is "full Moon" - because we're seeing the entire "daytime" half of the Moon.
Why does the moon look differently at different times of the month?
As the moon orbits around the Earth there are different phases. When we see the moon it is because the light from the sun is being reflected off it.Phases:The new moon is when it's not visible because it is between the Earth and the sun.The first quarter moon is when the right side is visible because it faces both us and the sun.The full moon is when the moon is a complete circle in the sky because it fully faces both us and the sun.The third Quarter moon is when the left side is visible because it faces us and the sun.The Moon is always the same shape; it's a ball of rock.It LOOKS different from night to night, because it goes around the Earth, once in about 28 days. It rotates once in exactly the same time. So we always see the same part of the Moon.Remember that just like the Earth, the Sun always shines on half of the Moon, and the other half of the Moon is "night".As the Moon orbits the Earth, different places on the Moon are in sunlight.When the Moon is "new", it's the "daytime" half of the Moon that is facing away from us, and we're seeing the night half.A couple of days later, the Moon has gone 1/14th of the way around its orbit, and we can see just a bit of the daytime side of the Moon.After a few more days, we can see half of the Moon lit up - but if you look very closely, you can see the "dark" half of the Moon as well, being faintly illuminated by reflected Earthlight!A week later, and the Moon is "full Moon" - because we're seeing the entire "daytime" half of the Moon.
How are eclipses and phases different?
If we are talking about the moon, a moon phase exists because a part of the moon is not directed towards the sun and is therefore dark. Realize that at all times half the moon is directed towards the sun, but how much of that part is visible to us depends on lunar rotation around Earth. An eclipse on the other hand exists because light from the sun to the moon is blocked by the Earth; what you are seeing is the Earth's shadow on the moon.
What side of the moon are we seeing when the moon is full?
The same side of the moon always faces us, regardless of the phase. When the moon is full that side is fully illuminated by the sun as the moon is approximately on the opposite side of Earth relative to the sun.
What is the moon phase that occurs after a new moon and only half of the lighted side can be seen?
This is the first quarter phase. The moon looks half lit, half in shadow, but you actually can only see one quarter of the moons surface at this point (during a full moon, you would only be able to see half of the moons surface - the half that faces us).
Why is the first quarter moon phase called that?
At "half Moon" we see half of the Moon's hemisphere that is facing Earth. But "half Moon" isn't what astronomers call that phase of the Moon. It is called a "quarter Moon" phase. That's because the Moon has completed one quarter (at First Quarter phase) or three quarters (at Third Quarter phase) of an orbit around the Earth since new Moon. (Another possible reason is that we see a quarter of the total surface of the Moon at these phases.)
Why is there phases of the moon?
there are phases of the moon because when it orbits us sometimes you can't see it and other times you can see half it all depends.
What part of government is led by the speaker of the house?
The speaker of the House leads the lower house of Congress which is half of the legislature of the US.
Why do we see moon phases?
Just like the Earth, half of the Moon is lit by the Sun while the other half is in darkness. The phases we see result from the angle the Moon makes with the Sun as viewed from Earth. We only see the Moon because sunlight reflects back to us from its surface.
