Celestial
sights
Take a
journey in space to some of the most beautiful and powerful places. let's
together explore the mystery of the universe. Get fascinated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!In this page we discuss about celestial sights like phases of moon, eclipses, and how day and night occur?
. Phases of the moon
What is the phase of the moon?
The changing shape of the bright part of the Moon that we see is called its phase.
What causes the different phases of the Moon?
The phases of the Moon depend on its position in relation to the Sun and Earth. As the Moon makes its way around the Earth, we see the bright parts of the Moon's surface at different angles. These are called "phases" of the Moon
what causes part of the Moon to be lit up?
The moon is illuminated because it reflects the light from the sun. The part of the moon facing the sun is lit up. The part facing away from the sun is in darkness.
What are the different phases of the Moon called?
The phases of the moon work in a cycle starting with the new moon.
Did you know?
Countries near the equator see the crescent moon shaped like a smile?
There are eight Phases of the moon the phases are named after how much of the moon we can see, and whether the amount visible is increasing, or decreasing each day.
It takes our Moon about 29.5 days to completely cycle through all eight phases. This is known as a Lunar month
Why are the phases different in each hemisphere?
The moon orbits near the equator of the Earth. In the northern hemisphere, we are standing on the opposite side of the globe from countries in the southern hemisphere i.e. we are "upside down" from each other! We therefore see the Moon from a completely different vantage point from each other
Why does the Moon keep changing its shape?
The alignment of the moon and the sun determines the phase of the moon. The waxing crescent moon grows till it is about half full in the phase we call first quarter. From there it grows to full moon and then begins to shrink back to third quarter, waning crescent and finally back to new moon.
Phases of the moon in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere
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The image below show the different phases of the moon in one lunar month for the
northern hemisphere
Waning crescent
|
Last quarter
(Half Moon) |
Waning gibbous
|
 |  |  |
The Moon is 90 degrees west of the sun
Day 3
|
Day 7
|
Day 10
|
Waxing crescent
|
First quarter
or Half Moon |
Waxing gibbous
|
The Moon is 90 degrees east of the Sun
When it is getting smaller, the Moon is waning.
When the Moon is more than half-lit, it is called a gibbous Moon.
When the moon is less than half-lit, it is called a crescent Moon.
When can each phase of the Moon be seen in the UK?
The Moon can sometimes be seen in the daytime sky and sometimes in the night time sky. The moon rises and sets just like the sun does. The time when the Moon rises and sets depends mostly on its phase.
Please note that the exact time of moon rise is affected by the observer's latitude and longitude. The times below are the Moonrise times for London UK.
New moon (or dark moon)
The new moon occurs when the moon and the sun are on the same side of Earth. The moon is between the Sun and the Earth and therefore lost in the glare of the sun. We see the side which is not lit, so the moon appears dark to us.
The New Moon rises at dawn and sets at sunset.
Waxing Crescent Moon
Evening Crescent
The waxing crescent moon can
always be seen soon after sunset low in the West. Although it rises in the East
a little after Sunrise, you can't see it because it is too close to the Sun
during the day. When the sun sets and the sky darken, the moon pops into view
in the western sky. The
best time to see a waxing crescent moon is on the second and third days after
New Moon when the crescent is fatter and brighter, and further from the Sun."Waxing" means increasing, or growing larger.)
Please note: in this phase, you can sometimes see earthshine on the unilluminated portion of the Moon. Earthshine is caused by sunlight being reflected off the Earth and falling onto the Moon.
Quarter moon
The quarter is when the moon has completed one quarter of an orbit around the Earth, one quarter of a full circle (90 degrees) away from the sun. Half of the moon's surface is visible from Earth and so sometimes this phase is called half moon.
First quarter
The Full Moon is when the Earth is between the sun and the moon.
You can tell when the moon is first quarter because the sun lit side is on the right side as shown on the right. (In Australia and other Southern Hemisphere countries it would look like the left side is lit).
A First Quarter Moon rises in the East around noon and sets in the West around midnight. At sunset, you’ll find a First Quarter Moon high above the southern horizon
Full moon
The Full Moon is when the Earth is
between the sun and the moon.
Full moon always comes about two
weeks after new moon, when the moon is midway around in its orbit of Earth, as
measured from one new moon to the next. A Full Moon is the only moon phase that shines the whole night through. A full Moon that
rises at sunset and sets at sunrise and
is visible all night long from moonrise to moonset. It can be seen in the South
near midnight.
Waning Gibbous Moon
A gibbous moon is a very bright
moon. A waning gibbous Moon will rise in
the east well after sunset, passing due South in the early dawn hours, and
setting in the West sometime after dawn.
Last Quarter moon
The quarter is when the moon has completed
one quarter of an orbit around the Earth, one quarter of a full circle (90
degrees) away from the sun. Half
of the moon's surface is visible from Earth and so sometimes this phase is
called half moon.
Last quarterA third or last quarter moon shows
the sunlit side of the moon on the left. (This would be on the opposite side
for Australia). The last quarter
moon rises around midnight and sets around mid-morning. So
unless you're a late-owl, you've probably never even seen this moon.
Waning crescent moon
Morning Crescent
The waning crescent moon rises a
couple of hours before the sun rises and is barely visible all day long and then
sets a couple of hours before the sun. (The best time to see it is just before
sunrise.)
If you
are watching the moon...
Please
note that after the full phase, the moon won't rise until after sunset and
rises later each night. When it
gets too late, get up just after sunrise and watch the moon continue
east. When it gets close to crescent phase again, you may need to get up
before sunrise to see earth shine again
Do you
want to know more about phases of the moon enjoy the
videos...................
Eclipses
Solar eclipses
A solar eclipse is when the moon blocks the
sun out from people on Earth. We know that
the moon is thousand times smaller than the sun. so in order to block the suns
light from the people on Earth, all three bodies must be lined up
equally. A solar eclipse may not occur even if sun moon, Earth is lined up .The
distance between the moon and Earth must be correct. If the moon looks like the
same size as the sun from Earth, then the distance between moon and Earth is
correct. When the moon, sun, Earth are in a straight line, the darker
side of the moon faces Earth. We may only see a solar eclipse when we are on
the side of Earth facing the moon.
During a total eclipse the whole sun is blocked out
from the moon. When a total eclipse starts to occur, the sky starts to darken.
The temperature also decreases a few degrees when the eclipse occurs. This
happens because heat from the sunlight decreases
Partial eclipses
When
the sun moon earth doesn’t line up completely the conclusion is called a
partial eclipse. A partial eclipse is when part of the moon covers the sun, so
the rest of the sun is visible. It may seem a little darker but it is much
different when the sky becomes cloudy
Annular eclipses
If the moon is in the part of its orbit that is far away from Earth when
it passes between the earth and the sun. it is called Annular Eclipse. An
annular eclipse does not cover exactly the whole sun. During an annular
eclipse, a ring of the sun is visible. But the suns corona, the outer layer of
the sun, will not be visible.
Lunar Eclipses
A lunar eclipse is an eclipse of the moon. The sun,
Earth, and the Moon are in a straight line during a lunar eclipse. Except the
Moon is not in the middle, Earth is. Since Earth is in the middle, Earth casts
a shadow on the Moon. This darkening is visible from the side of Earth facing
the Moon, which is night time. That is why a lunar eclipse can only be seen at
night.
At first, the Moon just appears a little dim. That
is because Earth's penumbra, a partial shadow, reaches the Moon 30 minutes
before a large shadow, or umbra, does. When the umbra meets with the Moon, a
dark curve slipping across the Moon can be seen.
Lunar eclipses are easier to see than solar
eclipses. That's because lunar eclipses last up to 4 hours. Looking at a lunar
eclipse or total eclipse of the Moon will not harm your eyes. But looking at an
eclipse of the sun can permanently damage your eyes.
How day and
night occurs?
The rotation of the earth causes us to have a day
and night. Rotation is the spinning of the earth in its axis it spins like a
top. The side of the earth that is facing towards the sun is having a day; the
side of the earth that is facing away from the sun is having night. Our home,
earth is one of the nine planets in our solar system. The planets are at
revolves around the sun. The Solar System and all its planets are in constant
motion. Each of the planets revolves around the Sun. The planets also rotate,
or spin, around an internal axis. One manifestation of rotation is the cycle of
night and day. Day after day, month after month, year after year, the
alternation of night and day continues. Sometimes it is sunny outside, and
other times it is dark. In addition to rotation, day and night occur because
the Earth is spherical. When a portion of the Earth faces the Sun, it is
daytime. When the same are rotates away from the Sun, it is night time.
The cycle of light and dark is
continuous except near the North and South Pole. During the Northern Hemisphere
summer, the North Pole always faces the Sun, so daytime is continuous for
several weeks. At the same time, the South Pole faces away from the Sun
(Southern Hemisphere winter) and is in continuous night. Rotation and
revolution also cause the seasons. The Earth’s axis is tilted 23.5o from
vertical. This means that solar energy strikes the Earth unevenly. It is summer
in the Northern Hemisphere when the North Pole tilts toward the Sun. This puts
the Sun more overhead, so solar energy strikes the Earth most directly. In half
of a revolution the North Pole tilts away from the Sun, making solar energy
least direct, so it is winter.
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