why does the moon change shape?
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Phases of the Moon. The Moon doesn't emit (give off) light itself, the 'moonlight' we see is actually the Sun's light reflected off the lunar surface. So, as the Moon orbits the Earth, the Sun lights up different parts of it, making it seem as if the Moon is changing shape.
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If you like astronomy, you probably enjoy lunar eclipses, when the Earth casts its shadow on the moon. Lunar comes from the Latin word luna, meaning moon. The Roman goddess of the moon is called Luna (Selene in Greek mythology). There are lunar eclipses, a lunar calendar, lunar tides, and lunar orbits.
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Both the moon and the sun possess gravity, and both exert this gravitational force on the earth. The sun's gravity captured Earth so that our planet revolves around the sun. The moon's gravity, which is only a fraction of Earth's, is still strong enough to pull water, creating tides.
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This is called the “halo effect,” or a Lunar Halo, and it is caused by light rays diffracting around the moon. Twenty thousand feet above your head are thin wispy cirrus clouds. You may or may not be able to see them, but you will when the light from the moon reflects on those tiny hexagon-shaped ice crystals.
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The moon shines because its surface reflects light from the sun. And despite the fact that it sometimes seems to shine very brightly, the moon reflects only between 3 and 12 percent of the sunlight that hits it. The perceived brightness of the moon from Earth depends on where the moon is in its orbit around the planet.
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The Moon is about 400 times smaller than the Sun, but it also just happens to be about 400 times closer. The result is that from Earth, they appear to be the same size. And when its orbit around Earth takes the Moon directly between Earth and the Sun, the Moon blocks our view of the Sun in what we call a solar eclipse.
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The Moon has phases because it orbits Earth, which causes the portion we see illuminated to change. The Moon takes 27.3 days to orbit Earth, but the lunar phase cycle (from new Moon to new Moon) is 29.5 days. ... As the Sun sets, the Moon rises with the side that faces Earth fully exposed to sunlight (5).
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They vary more in width than depth that's for sure. That's because it takes exponentially more energy to dig into the moon and it takes the square of energy to excavate across the moons surface. Also molten material subsides and flows back into the crater.
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Characteristics of our Moon include its size of only about 1/4 the diameter of the Earth, while its gravity affects the Earth's tides. The Moon looks bright at night because of sunlight that is reflected off its surface. It has some distinct surface features that can be seen with the naked eye.
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The Moon can only be seen as a result of the Sun's light reflecting off it. It does not produce any light of its own.
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The moon and Earth both revolve and rotate on their way around in our solar system, but what is the difference between them? Rotation is when a planet or moon turns all the way around or spins on its axis one time. ... When a planet or moon travels around the body it is orbiting one time, this is a revolution.
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New moons occur because of our changing viewpoint of the Moon; lunar eclipses occur when the Earth gets in the way of the light from the Sun and stops it hitting the Moon. New moons occur when the Moon is between the Sun and the Earth; lunar eclipses occur when the Earth is between the Sun and the Moon.
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Just like the Earth, half of the Moon is lit by the Sun while the other half is in darkness. The phases we see result from the angle the Moon makes with the Sun as viewed from Earth. ... We only see the Moon because sunlight reflects back to us from its surface.
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The moon is most likely to look orange when it is low in the sky. ... Longer wavelengths are more red, and so, when the light from the moon has to travel through more atmosphere and undergo more scattering, the moon appears redder in the sky. This is also why sunsets and sunrises are orange.
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A difference between the moon & the Earth and the sun is that the sun is made out of gas, but the moon and the Earth is not, because they are both mostly made of rock. A difference for the Earth and the moon is that the Earth orbits the sun, but the moon orbits the Earth.
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The full moon occurs when the moon is on the opposite side of the earth from the sun. ... A lunar eclipse occurs when the sun, earth, and the moon are exactly in a line, with the sun and moon on opposite sides of the earth. This causes the earth's shadow to fall on the moon.
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High and low tides are caused by the Moon. The Moon's gravitational pull generates something called the tidal force. The tidal force causes Earth—and its water—to bulge out on the side closest to the Moon and the side farthest from the Moon. These bulges of water are high tides.