Chapter 8

Phases of the Moon

Recall that the Moon’s orbit around the Earth is tilted and
takes around 28 days to orbit the Earth.
Only sometimes does the moon get into the earth’s
shadow. ( ≈4 lunar eclipses each year)
It is a common misconception
that we only see sunlight on
part of the moon because the
rest of it is in the shadow of
the earth.
This is demonstrably false.
You can tell this shadow
model doesn’t make sense by
looking at the shape of the
shadow line during any phase
other than a crescent moon.
The curve IRL is in the wrong
direction to be caused by the
round Earth.
1. Half of the moon is always exposed to sunlight.
• (Except when there’s an eclipse)

sunlight
2. We are looking at the moon from the earth.
(We’re spinning 28 times for each moon orbit and we are always half in our
own shadow too)

Hemisphere

Hemisphere
Western

Eastern
night

sunlight
Yes, you have to memorize what each phase is called.
Try a sample
test question:

Colour in the
dark parts (The
parts we don’t
see should be
dark. The parts
we do see
should be light
still.)
Check your
answers.
Bonus: The moon is tidally locked to the earth, so the period of its
rotation matches its period of revolution.
smooth

craters

Hemisphere

Hemisphere
Western

Eastern
night

sunlight

The result is that we always see the same side of the moon.
(The Moon’s shadow has been removed for this animation.)