Where’s the moon? Waxing gibbous

Patricia Evans in Seabrook, Massachusetts wrote on October 10: “As I was walking to my car after work tonight I looked up, as I always do, and noticed that the moon seemed super bright and sharply defined against a twilight sky … it is 63% illuminated tonight.”

A waxing gibbous moon appears high in the east at sunset. It’s more than half-lighted, but less than full.

That’s another way of saying that a waxing gibbous moon phase falls between a first quarter moon and a full moon. Next full moon comes on October 16, 2016 at 0423 UTC; translate to your timezone). It’ll be the Northern Hemipshere’s Hunter’s Moon.

Relative to a new moon – which is more or less between the Earth and sun, located near the sun along our line of sight – a waxing gibbous moon has moved in its orbit so that it’s now relatively far from the sun in our sky.

A waxing gibbous moon rises during the hours between noon and sunset. It sets in the wee hours after midnight.

Waxing gibbous moon with 4 different cameras, captured in August, 2016 by our friend Lunar 101 – Moon Book.

People often see a waxing gibbous moon in the afternoon, shortly after moonrise, while it’s ascending in the east as the sun is descending in the west. It’s easy to see a waxing gibbous moon in the daytime because, at this phase of the moon, a large fraction of the moon’s day side is facing our way.

Thus a waxing gibbous moon is more noticeable in the sky than a crescent moon, with only a slim fraction of the lunar day side visible. Also, a waxing gibbous moon is far from the sun on the sky’s dome, so the sun’s glare isn’t hiding it from view.

Any moon that appears more than half lighted but less than full is called a gibbous moon. The word gibbous comes from a root word that means hump-backed. A gibbous moon can also be a waning gibbous, in the week between full moon and last quarter moon.

Waxing gibbous moon about to set, late at night. The golden color stems from the fact that – when we see a moon low in the sky – we’re seeing it through a greater-than-usual thickness of Earth’s atmosphere. Photo by Peter Lowenstein.

As the moon orbits Earth, it changes phase in an orderly way. Follow these links to understand the various phases of the moon.

Four keys to understanding moon phases

Where’s the moon? Waxing crescent
Where’s the moon? First quarter
Where’s the moon? Waxing gibbous
What’s special about a full moon?
Where’s the moon? Waning gibbous
Where’s the moon? Last quarter
Where’s the moon? Waning crescent
Where’s the moon? New phase

Moon in 2016: Phases, cycles, eclipses, supermoons and more

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/1j8UWzb

Patricia Evans in Seabrook, Massachusetts wrote on October 10: “As I was walking to my car after work tonight I looked up, as I always do, and noticed that the moon seemed super bright and sharply defined against a twilight sky … it is 63% illuminated tonight.”

A waxing gibbous moon appears high in the east at sunset. It’s more than half-lighted, but less than full.

That’s another way of saying that a waxing gibbous moon phase falls between a first quarter moon and a full moon. Next full moon comes on October 16, 2016 at 0423 UTC; translate to your timezone). It’ll be the Northern Hemipshere’s Hunter’s Moon.

Relative to a new moon – which is more or less between the Earth and sun, located near the sun along our line of sight – a waxing gibbous moon has moved in its orbit so that it’s now relatively far from the sun in our sky.

A waxing gibbous moon rises during the hours between noon and sunset. It sets in the wee hours after midnight.

Waxing gibbous moon with 4 different cameras, captured in August, 2016 by our friend Lunar 101 – Moon Book.

People often see a waxing gibbous moon in the afternoon, shortly after moonrise, while it’s ascending in the east as the sun is descending in the west. It’s easy to see a waxing gibbous moon in the daytime because, at this phase of the moon, a large fraction of the moon’s day side is facing our way.

Thus a waxing gibbous moon is more noticeable in the sky than a crescent moon, with only a slim fraction of the lunar day side visible. Also, a waxing gibbous moon is far from the sun on the sky’s dome, so the sun’s glare isn’t hiding it from view.

Any moon that appears more than half lighted but less than full is called a gibbous moon. The word gibbous comes from a root word that means hump-backed. A gibbous moon can also be a waning gibbous, in the week between full moon and last quarter moon.

Waxing gibbous moon about to set, late at night. The golden color stems from the fact that – when we see a moon low in the sky – we’re seeing it through a greater-than-usual thickness of Earth’s atmosphere. Photo by Peter Lowenstein.

As the moon orbits Earth, it changes phase in an orderly way. Follow these links to understand the various phases of the moon.

Four keys to understanding moon phases

Where’s the moon? Waxing crescent
Where’s the moon? First quarter
Where’s the moon? Waxing gibbous
What’s special about a full moon?
Where’s the moon? Waning gibbous
Where’s the moon? Last quarter
Where’s the moon? Waning crescent
Where’s the moon? New phase

Moon in 2016: Phases, cycles, eclipses, supermoons and more

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/1j8UWzb