Where’s the moon? Waxing gibbous

Waxing gibbous moon via Clarise Samuels in Montreal. She used multiple exposures to superimpose the moon on a close-up of small light bulbs and she wrote: “It would be nice if we had a lot of moons.”

This week’s waxing gibbous moon rises during the hours between noon and sunset. It sets in the wee hours after midnight. It falls between a first quarter moon and a full moon, and, it so happens, this upcoming full moon is a supermoon.

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.

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 respectably large fraction of the moon’s dayside is now facing our way.

Want to know more? Check out our post offering 4 keys to understanding moon phases.

Point of interest on a waxing gibbous moon: Sinus Iridum (Bay of Rainbows) surrounded by the Jura Mountains. Photo by Lunar 101-Moon Book in Toronto, Canada.

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

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

Waxing gibbous moon via Clarise Samuels in Montreal. She used multiple exposures to superimpose the moon on a close-up of small light bulbs and she wrote: “It would be nice if we had a lot of moons.”

This week’s waxing gibbous moon rises during the hours between noon and sunset. It sets in the wee hours after midnight. It falls between a first quarter moon and a full moon, and, it so happens, this upcoming full moon is a supermoon.

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.

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 respectably large fraction of the moon’s dayside is now facing our way.

Want to know more? Check out our post offering 4 keys to understanding moon phases.

Point of interest on a waxing gibbous moon: Sinus Iridum (Bay of Rainbows) surrounded by the Jura Mountains. Photo by Lunar 101-Moon Book in Toronto, Canada.

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

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