How long phases of the moon

Over the past few decades, the second full Moon has come to be known as a "blue Moon. The most recent "blue Moon" occurred in August On average, there's a Blue Moon about every 33 months. Blue Moons are rare because the Moon is full every 29 and a half days, so the timing has to be just right to squeeze two full Moons into a calendar month.

The timing has to be really precise to fit two Blue Moons into a single year. It can only happen on either side of February, whose day span is short enough time span to have NO full Moons during the month. The term "blue Moon" has not always been used this way, however. While the exact origin of the phrase remains unclear, it does in fact refer to a rare blue coloring of the Moon caused by high-altitude dust particles.

Most sources credit this unusual event, occurring only "once in a blue moon," as the true progenitor of the colorful phrase. The Moon always shows us the same face because Earth's gravity has slowed down the Moon's rotational speed. The Moon takes as much time to rotate once on its axis as it takes to complete one orbit of Earth. Both are about In other words, the Moon rotates enough each day to compensate for the angle it sweeps out in its orbit around Earth. Gravitational forces between Earth and the Moon drain the pair of their rotational energy.

We see the effect of the Moon in the ocean tides. Likewise, Earth's gravity creates a detectable bulge -- a foot land tide -- on the Moon. This phase occurs between the first quarter and full Moon and describes the Moon when it is more than half lit, but not yet fully. At the beginning of this stage in the Northern Hemisphere, we see the right half of the Moon illuminated plus a tiny fraction more extending into the left side. In the Southern Hemisphere, the same happens, only from left to right.

This phase is named as such because, from our perspective, the full disk is illuminated. Learn more about lunar eclipses here! This phase occurs between the full and last quarter and describes the Moon when it is more than half lit, but not fully. At the beginning of this stage in the Northern Hemisphere, we see a disk almost fully lit except for a tiny sliver on the right side that is in darkness.

In the Southern Hemisphere, the same happens, only the light shrinks from left to right. This stage is sometimes also called Third Quarter. In the Northern Hemisphere, the left side is illuminated; in the Southern Hemisphere, it is the right side.

During a last quarter phase, the Moon is said to be at west quadrature, meaning that it is 90 degrees west of the Sun when viewed from Earth.

This phase occurs between the last quarter and new Moon phases. Eventually, the entire disk will be in darkness, at which point it will be the new Moon phase and another lunar cycle will have begun.

In the Southern Hemisphere, the same thing happens, only the lit area would have started on the right side and shrunk from left to right, until a thin crescent remained on the right. Once the Sun rises, it is not easy to see this slim phase; the best time is before the glare of sunrise. The term " Moon's age " is not a reference to how long the Moon has existed about 4.

As mentioned above, the span of time between one new Moon and the next is called a lunar cycle , lunation , lunar month , or synodic month and on average lasts for This translates to 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 3 seconds. The length of a lunar cycle can vary by more than 13 hours due to a few factors. During the full moon on Nov. The eclipse will peak at a. Times and dates are in UTC time. If you need equipment for viewing the moon, check out our guide to the best telescopes and the best telescopes for kids.

How to photograph the moon using a camera: techniques, kit, and settings. How to observe the moon with a telescope. What you can see in this month's night sky. Best cameras for astrophotography. The moon, like Earth, is a sphere, and it is always half-illuminated by the sun. As the moon travels around Earth, we see more or less of the illuminated half. Moon phases describe how much of the moon's disk is illuminated from our perspective. New moon : The moon is between Earth and the sun, and the side of the moon facing toward us receives no direct sunlight; it is lit only by dim sunlight reflected from Earth.