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A lunar phase or Moon phase is the apparent shape of the Moon 's directly sunlit portion as viewed from the Earth (because the Moon is tidally locked with the Earth, the same hemisphere is always facing the Earth). In common usage, the four major phases are the new moon, the first quarter, the full moon and the last quarter; the four minor ...
The full moon is the lunar phase when the Moon appears fully illuminated from Earth's perspective. This occurs when Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon (when the ecliptic longitudes of the Sun and Moon differ by 180°). [3] This means that the lunar hemisphere facing Earth—the near side —is completely sunlit and appears as an ...
In lunar calendars, a lunar month is the time between two successive syzygies of the same type: new moons or full moons. The precise definition varies, especially for the beginning of the month. Animation of the Moon as it cycles through its phases, as seen from the Northern Hemisphere. The apparent wobbling of the Moon is known as libration.
Full Moon. The full moon marks the high point of the lunar cycle. This is when drama unfolds and life-altering moments take place. Think of the full moon as the most climactic part of a movie ...
A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon 's phases (synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based on the solar year. The most widely observed purely lunar calendar is the Islamic calendar. [a] A purely lunar calendar is distinguished from a lunisolar calendar, whose lunar ...
Lunar effect. Moonrise by the Sea. Biologists as well as artists and poets have long thought about the Moon's influence on living creatures. The lunar effect is a purported correlation between specific stages of the roughly 29.5-day lunar cycle and behavior and physiological changes in living beings on Earth, including humans.
Every 18.6 years, the angle between the Moon's orbit and Earth's equator reaches a maximum of 28°36′, the sum of Earth's equatorial tilt (23°27′) and the Moon's orbital inclination (5°09′) to the ecliptic. This is called major lunar standstill. Around this time, the Moon's declination will vary from −28°36′ to +28°36′.
Lunar day. A full lunar day observed from the Earth, where orbital libration causes the apparent wobble. A lunar day is the time it takes for Earth 's Moon to complete on its axis one synodic rotation, meaning with respect to the Sun. Informally, a lunar day and a lunar night is each approx. 14 Earth days. The formal lunar day is therefore the ...