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The Moon does not really change its shape. It just seems to change its shape, or go through phases, because we only see the parts of it that are lit up by the Sun. The portion of the Moon that we see depends on where the Moon is in its orbit around Earth. When the Moon is between the Earth and the Sun, the side facing us is dark. We call this a new moon. Gradually, as the Moon orbits Earth, more and more of the side facing us is lit up by sunlight. When the Moon reaches the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun is, the side of the Moon facing us is completely lit up by sunlight and we see a full moon. Then we see less and less of the Moon until it becomes a new moon again. The time that it takes for the Moon to change from one new moon to the next new moon is about 29.5 days.

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14y ago

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