What is the reason why the moon is not full every night? what eclipse the moon?

Answer 1

You know that when it's daytime for you, someone on the other side of Earth is experiencing night time - the Sun lights up half of the earth at any given time. The same is true for the Moon - it is always half lit up by the Sun and half dark. But we don't always see the lit up side. Sometimes we do, like tonight (a Full Moon). But other times we "see" the dark half (a New Moon) (you can't really see the dark half because it's dark!), and sometimes we see a little bit of both (First Quarter Moon, for example).

We see different parts of the lit up side and the dark side because the Moon orbits Earth about once every month. Right now, if you were to see the Sun, Earth, and Moon from high above Earth's north pole, the three would be almost lined up: Sun, then Earth, then Moon. If they were *perfectly* lined up then there would be a lunar eclipse, but that only happens a couple times a year, if that. Next week, as the Moon goes around Earth, the Sun, Earth, and Moon will make a right angle and not a straight line. That's when we see a Third Quarter Moon - only the left half of the Moon will be visible as seen from Earth. Another week and the Moon will be almost between the Sun and Earth, so the dark side of the Moon will be facing Earth - what we call New Moon. (If the Moon came exactly between the Sun and Earth we would have a solar eclipse, but just like lunar eclipses they are very rare).

There is a huge difference between a lunar eclipse and a new moon - apparently several of the people who answered above me don't know that!

Answer 2

A secret about Grandfather Twilight

If you look for the word “moon” in Grandfather Twilight, you won’t find it. Even the smallest child knows what is happening when “Gently, he gives the pearl to the silence above the sea.” It did not have to say “moon.” The pictures tell you.

I showed the pearl always round, like a full moon. That is the way it needed to be. But we know that the real moon is not full every night. The moon changes. It goes from a crescent moon, to a quarter moon, a half moon, then a full moon, and back again. The moon waxes and wanes. It has phases.

If you look on the page where Grandfather Twilight is sleeping in his bed, you can find a crescent somewhere in the picture. A crescent happens when light hits one side of a round object, like a ball. The real moon is like a ball too. A crescent moon is when light hits one side, just along the edge.

I put that in the picture as a little secret, to honor the phases of the moon.

Answer 3

The moon's phase changes because it orbits the Earth. As it travels through its orbit, the Sun shines on different parts, so the moon appears to change shape.

As for what eclipses the moon, you're standing on it. A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes through the shadow of the earth. The moon's orbit changes ever so slightly over time, though, which is why we don't get a lunar eclipse during every full moon.

Answer 4

We only see half of the moon even if it is the full moon. The reason it is not full every night is because teh moon cant provide for its own light so it uses the Sun.
The Sun provides light for the moon but the moon moves so the light is different every night.

Answer 5

You're confused. The Moon is illuminated the same as the Earth, only its day is about 28 Earth days. You're seeing the night side of the Moon, not an eclipse.

Answer 6

The moon appears different each day of its cycle because of its position relative to the earth and sun. As for the first answer, about the dark side of the moon, that is incorrect. The moon is essentially a dead body. At on point in time it rotated about its axis similar to Earth. Over time this rotation slowed until it reach the same rate as its revolution rate around earth. So the same side of the moon always faces earth, and the other side "The dark side" always faces away.

Answer 7

Take two balls, pretend one is the Earth and the other is the moon. Turn on one light across a dark room and holding one ball steady (Earth) and rotate the other (the Moon) around the steady ball (Earth) on the same plain as the light coming from the lamp. Do this while pretending you are standing on the Earth ball and notice how the light shines on the Moon ball as it rotates. This should explain the phasing of the Moon.

Answer 8

It looks like Chris Weitz will be directing New Moon. He directed About a Boy and The Golden Compass among other things.

Answer 9

The relation of the earth blocking the sun, and therefore blocking sunlight getting to the moom is the reason why we dont have a full moon every night, there might be a little fragment of earth blocking the moon so it appears that we have a full moon but if you look closely, you'll see that there is a peice missing because the sunlight is not getting to it.

Answer 10

u must be knowing that earth casts a darker shadow on the either side from which sun rays fall on earth called umbra and a slighter shadow penumbra. thus as moon revolves around the earth it passes through penumbra and umbra. when it is in farthest penumbra the moon is full bcuz the sun rays fall on moon directly which the moon reflects to the earth. but when it is in center of umbra no sun rays are reflected by the moon as it is in dark umbra. thus we see 'no moon'.