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Why does the Moon change appearance throughout the month?

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The Moon goes through "phases." That means it appears to us differently each night during its one-month orbit around our planet. We use terms like "Full Moon," "First Quarter," and "New Moon" to describe how the Moon appears (which we can't see because the lit side is facing away from us). The Moon does not produce its own light. Sunlight reflected off the Moon's surface is referred to as moonlight. As the Moon orbits Earth, the Sun illuminates the side of the Moon that is facing it. It's always a full Moon to the Sun! If you were looking down on Earth and its Moon from far above the North Pole, you would see a Moon that looked something like this: However, we can see the Moon from the canter of its orbit. As a result, we see different parts of the Moon's lit side. Make Moon phases out of Oreos. Then, to make the four major phases of the Moon, open up some Oreo cookies and scrape off the creme filling. These Oreo ...

Meteor Shower

  A Meteor Shower: What Is It? You won't need a telescope, binoculars, or a tall mountain to have a "star gazing" party if a meteor shower is a forecast. A warm sleeping bag and an alarm clock to wake you up in the middle of the night can be necessary. The best place to watch a show, though, is simply by lying down in your own backyard. Meteors A meteoroid is a space rock that enters the atmosphere of Earth. The air on the space rock creates drag, which causes it to heat up as it falls toward Earth. A "shooting star" is what we can see. The glowing hot air that can be seen as the hot rock flies through the atmosphere, not the rock itself, is what is causing that light streak. We refer to a meteor shower as the simultaneous collision of several meteoroids with Earth. Why would there be a lot of meteoroids hitting Earth at once? Comets orbit the sun in a similar manner to Earth and the other planets. The orbits of comets are typically very lopsided, in c...

Moon: The Whole Story

Only one moon orbits Earth; it is a stony, cratered body that is about one-quarter the size of Earth and is located on average 238,855 miles distant. The Moon travels a 27-day orbit around our planet and is typically visible with the unaided eye. Probably one of the first images that come to mind when you think of the night sky is the Moon "glowing" in the shadows. The Moon has always had a special position in both our daily lives and our imaginations. Being interested is nothing to be shocked about. Most nights, it is possible to see the Moon, the only naturally occurring satellite of Earth. What makes the Moonglow? The Moon doesn't emit any light of its own. It only acts as a reflector of sunlight. Why does it seem like the Moon is changing shape? When viewed from Earth, the Moon may appear to change shape every night, going from a tiny sliver to a half moon to a full moon and back again. Actually, from Earth, we can see different areas of the Moon being l...