The moon is the main cause of?

Answer 1

Contrary to popular belief, the phases of the moon have nothing to do with shadows caused by the earth. Whenever the earth's shadow passes over the moon, it is full moon, and the passing of the shadow is a full or partial lunar eclipse.

As the moon orbits around the earth, we get to see the moon in different degrees of illumination by the sun. These different degrees of illumination are the moon's phases. We in fact watch lunar night and lunar day as they are unfolding on the moon. A full night-day period on the moon is equal to one full cycle of lunar phases.

All parts of the moon experience the passing of lunar night and lunar day; no part of the moon is perpetually in sunlight or perpetually in darkness. This is because the moon rotates, and it happens that one rotation relative to the sun is equal in length to one full cycle of lunar phases. Day and night on the moon, then, happen the same way they do on earth. And the phases we see are literally different times passing during the lunar day.

Answer 2

Actually, there is no such thing as the man in the moon. The 'man in the moon' is caused by the eight changing phases of the moon. ___________________ The face-like image on the moon's surface [particularly when viewed in the north] is caused by nothing more than the coincidental placement of various natural features on the moon's surface, like patches of craters, large areas of relatively uncratered surface, and some variations in color/luminosity of the dust and sand that cover the moon. The appearance is quite clear to most people, but some claim not to be able to see it. The image appears as a very round (no surprises there) face with a wide-eyed look of surprise, and a mouth that appears to be saying "OH!". Or perhaps it is a moment of exhuberant song. The face may be difficult or impossible to see well in the Southern Hemisphere, since it would appear upside down, and even right side up it takes a little 'de-cyphering' to detect. Perhaps observers in the southern hemisphere could weigh in.

Answer 3

Take a flashlight and a tennis ball into a dark room where there are no mirrors.

Set the flashlight down on something, turn it on, point it into the middle of the

room, and walk to the middle of the room with the tennis ball.

The flashlight illuminates 1/2 of the ball. If you're in front of the ball, you can see

the entire lighted side. If you're behind the ball, you can't see any of the lighted

side. If you're to the side of the ball, you see 1/2 of the lighted side.

The sun is the flashlight. The moon is the tennis ball. Half of it is always illuminated,

but if you're not straight in front of it, then you can only see a part of the lighted side.

Answer 4

Some people wrongly believe: ...that the ordinary shadow on the moon that causes the monthly phases is made by the sun shining on the Earth and casting a shadow onto the moon. When the moon is "full" it is not being covered by the Earth's shadow. When the moon is completely covered by the Earth's shadow, that is called a "New Moon". This is not entirely correct. The earth does cast a shadow on the moon, but this is a relatively rare event compared to the monthly phases of the moon. The full moon happens when the earth is right between the sun and the moon; they don't always line up perfectly. People on the night side of earth are then treated to a full moon. On those occasions when the earth casts its shadow on the moon, it is always during this full moon period, and it is only during this period. When the earth's shadow covers all or part of the moon's sunlit surface, this is called a lunar eclipse. The new moon happens when the moon is in the other half of its orbit, and the moon is between the sun and the earth. The earth's shadow couldn't possibly be involved. Less and less of the moon's face is lit by the sun, until virtually none of it is, and the brightness of the sun also obscures our view of the moon. This is also the time when solar eclipses occur-- when the new moon 'line-up' is not just close, but perfect or nearly so. Incidentally, the ordinary shadow on the moon that indicates the various lunar phases throughout the month is really the moon's natural night time shadow, caused in the same way as on earth. Over the course of a month, we get to see one lunar day unfolding on the moon. The moon rotates on its axis once per month (its period of rotation and its period of revolution around earth are the same), so a lunar day is one month long. As the moon orbits earth, we get to see the moon at different 'times' during its 708.72 hour long synodic day.

Answer 5

The cause of the different phases of the moon is the earth casting a shadow upon the moon. As the earth rotates around the sun and the moon rotates around the earth the shadow changes. Believe it or not (I do) God did this on purpose so that we could tell the passing of the years and seasons and months.

Answer 6

The moon's phases are caused by the angle it is in relation to the sun and

what our angle is that we look at it. An elementary example: Take a ball and

a flashlight, mount the flashlight somewhere and hold the ball out with your hand,

then rotate and watch the shadow on the ball and that is how the phases on our

moon change.

Answer 7

The Moon doesn't change; it hasn't changed much in a billion years.

What changes is our VIEW of the Moon. When the Moon is "new", it looks like it is very close to the Sun in the sky, and is difficult to see against the Sun's glare. when the Moon is full, the Moon is on the other side of the Earth and we can see the full light of the Sun on the Moon.

Answer 8

Moon phases are caused by changes in the moon's position relative to the sun and Earth as it revolves around Earth. -Got it from my science book.

Answer 9

The moon is the main cause of ocean tides on Earth due to its gravitational pull. This gravitational force creates bulges in the ocean waters, leading to high and low tides as the Earth rotates.

Answer 10

The moon appears in phases because of it's own orbit around our planet, the rotation of our lovely Earth, as well as the Earth's orbit around out Sun.