Why does the moon have like half moons and slivers etc?

Question

sometimes when you only see a crescent you can see the shadow or darkened part of the rest of the moon
why is that

Answer 1

The whole moon is always there. If you look carefully, you'll be able to see the darkened part of the disc.

What you are really seeing is the part of the moon facing the sun. The moon does not create its own light, it only reflects sunlight. When the moon appears full, then the earth is almost directly between the moon and the sun. When the moon appears smaller (half, quarter, etc...) then the moon is off to one side of the earth and we see part of the dark side.

Try an experiment. Get a flashlight (the sun) and set it up so that it is aimed just over your head. Then, have a freind move a ball (the moon) across you field of view through the beam of light. when its directly in front of you it will look full, when its off to the side, it will look smaller.

Alot of people are telling you that the earth is casting a shadow on the moon and that's why we don't always see it full. THAT IS WRONG!

That does happen sometimes, but we call that a lunar eclipse. It can make the moon look real cool, kinda red in color. The regular cycle of half, quarter, full moon has nothing to do with the shadow of the earth.

Answer 2

You can sometimes see "the old moon in the new moon's arms." This is caused by earth-shine, the sun's light reflected off the earth illuminating parts of the moon where it is night.

A better question would be, why do we see this phenomenon so infrequently? Why not every night?

To see "the old moon in the new moon's arms," you need two elements: a crescent moon, and a dark sky.

The old moon can only be seen at the crescent phase because it requires plenty of earth-shine, and it gets this only when the earth, to a lunar observer, is at the full or nearly full phase, which coincides with the crescent moon to us.

The combination of dark sky and thin crescent moon happens only in winter and spring (for mid-latitude observers like me). In summer and autumn, the crescent moon sets too quickly after sundown to see it against a dark sky.

Watch for the old moon in the new moon's arms, the nights of August 25, 26 and 27, if you live in the Southern Hemisphere.

Answer 3

The reason we see half moons and crescents (slivers) is because that's the amount of sunlight that gets around the earth to reflect back to us from the moon. Sometimes there's enough light so that we can see the shadow image of the rest of the moon. The moon is ALWAYS complete, it's just only part of it is lit up.

Answer 4

In astronomy, a lunar phase is any of the aspects or appearances presented by the Moon as seen from Earth, determined by the portion of the Moon that is visibly illuminated by the Sun. The lunar phases vary cyclically as the Moon orbits the Earth, according to the relative positions of the Earth, the Moon, and the Sun. Since the Moon appears bright only due to the Sun's reflected light, only the half of the Moon facing the Sun is illuminated...

Answer 5

Whatever phase of the moon you see, you would see the opposite from the moon.

So when we see a full moon from earth you would see a New Earth from the moon.

When you see a crescent moon from Earth you would be seeing a near full Earth from the Moon, which would be about 12 times brighter than the full Moon on earth. This much light is bright enough to illuminate the side of the moon that is not illuminated by the sun and make it visible from earth.

Answer 6

The moon revolves around the earth - the earth casts a shadow because the sun moves behind the earth. The revolution changes over time - causing seasons and causing the different slivers etc of the moon.

Answer 7

As it rotates around the earth, the earth casts a shadow. This shadow causes areas of the moon to become dark, leaving only a sliver for us to see!

Answer 8

The Lunar Cycle: the earth blocks a portion of the light from the sun that reflects off of the moon. sometimes it is to a greater effect than others, thus the lunar cycle. this occurs on a regular schedule (check your calender, some of them have the moon phases on them). we have a full moon roughly once a month, and when it occurs twice in a month it is refered to as a blue moon, hence the phrase once in a blue moon...

Answer 9

its the phases of the moon, your seeing the different phases of the moon as it rotates around the earth

Answer 10

read books...