Difference between revisions of "Full Moon"
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Two full moons in a month - a fairly rare occurrence (every 32 months) - is called a "blue moon," leading to the phrase "once in a blue moon" to describe things that happen rarely. | Two full moons in a month - a fairly rare occurrence (every 32 months) - is called a "blue moon," leading to the phrase "once in a blue moon" to describe things that happen rarely. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The phases of the moon are: | ||
| + | *New | ||
| + | *Waxing Crescent (looks quarter full) | ||
| + | *First Quarter (looks half full) | ||
| + | *Waxing Gibbous (looks three quarter full) | ||
| + | *Full | ||
| + | *Waning Gibbous (looks three quarters full) | ||
| + | *Third Quarter (looks half full) | ||
| + | *Waning Crescent (looks quarter full) | ||
| + | *New (again) | ||
[[category:astronomy]] | [[category:astronomy]] | ||
Revision as of 23:12, September 6, 2008
A Full Moon is the phase of the Moon when it is fully illuminated as a circle. Full Moons occur approximately every 28 days. Lunar eclipses may only occur during a Full Moon, while solar eclipses may occur only during a new moon.
Two full moons in a month - a fairly rare occurrence (every 32 months) - is called a "blue moon," leading to the phrase "once in a blue moon" to describe things that happen rarely.
The phases of the moon are:
- New
- Waxing Crescent (looks quarter full)
- First Quarter (looks half full)
- Waxing Gibbous (looks three quarter full)
- Full
- Waning Gibbous (looks three quarters full)
- Third Quarter (looks half full)
- Waning Crescent (looks quarter full)
- New (again)