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Week 3-Unit 2 - Phases of The Moon2222

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18 views21 pages

Week 3-Unit 2 - Phases of The Moon2222

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elenorehariggan
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Chp. 2.4-2.

5 Phases of the Moon


Objectives

Upon completion of this lesson, you should be able to

• Describe the motion of the moon.


• Explain the changing shape of the illuminated part of the moon.
• Describe what causes the solar and lunar eclipse.
• Explain the differences between a partial and total solar eclipse.
Phases of the Moon

• The moon rotates on its axis in the same time (ca. 27 days-
~month) asit revolvesaround the earth – synchronous
rotation.
• Asa result, it keepsthe same side facing the earth.
• The moon doesnot produce itsown light.
• The moon glows asits surface reflects light from the sun.
• The moon changesshape asit goesthrough the cycle of phases
where the sun illuminatesdifferent sections at each phase.
• Observed from earth, the shapes range from a thin crescent to a full
disc, and then to a thin crescent again.
Illustrations are from the textbook and from the public domain.
Why Do We See Only the Near Side of the Moon
Watch this video to understand why

TheMoon revolvesaround Earth in the


sametime it rotates around its axis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j91XTV_p9pc

Public domain image by G. Revera.


Phases of the Moon

The Moon’s distance to Earth varies. This changes the visible angular size
of the Moon as seen here: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071025.html

Closest point in moon’sorbit


to earth.
Farthest point in
moon’sorbit to earth.

The Moon is 384,000 km away, on average.


The moon orbits its axis once approximately every 27 days.
It orbits Earth in 27.3 days in respect to stars (sidereal month).
Synodic period is the number of the days for a complete cycle of lunar
phases ( change from New moon to new moon again) – 29.53 days

Is the number of days in a month related to the lunar cycle?


Phases of the Moon
The first half of the lunar month as seen from Earth
The moon starts dark and as it rotates on its axis and revolves around the earth, larger sections
get illuminated by sunlight over the course of two weeks (waxing crescent to waxing gibbous)

at the same time each evening: New Moon to Full Moon.

The moon rises at sunset and sets at sunrise


Illustrations are from the textbook:Ghose et. al., Astro, Third Canadian Edition
Phases of the Moon
The second half of the lunar month as seen from Earth
The full disk which is fully bright begins to wane in brightness (waning gibbous to waning
crescent) tills it gets dark again after two weeks.

The moon sets at sunrise

Illustrations are from the textbook and from the public domain
Illustrations are from the textbook:Ghose et. al., Astro, Third Canadian Edition
The Cycle of the Phases of the Moon
The lunar month as seen from space: the side of the Moon facing the Sun is always
bright

https://openstax.org/
details/books/astrono
my

Imagine an observer facing the moon at each phase:


A. New moon - Moon’s illuminated side is away from observer on earth and dark side is towards observer.
C. First Quarter – Half of the moon’s illuminated side is visible to observer on earth.
E. Full Moon – Side of the moon turned towards sun is also turned towards observer on earth
G. Third Quarter – Moon has three quarters into the cycle. Here the observer sees half of the illuminated side.
The waxing and waning phases are completed in about 29.53 days when the moon returns to the new phase.
Watch Summary Video on Phases of the Moon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7tnHPDH5d8
Solar and Lunar Eclipses

• Thesunis about 400Xthe moon in diameter and also 400X farther from the
moon.

• Thusboth havethe sameangular size.

• Themoon seen from the earth appearsto cover the sun.

• When an object in the skyblocks light from the sun, it castsa shadowon the
region behind it. When an object movesinto into the shadow,it becomes
apparent

• Eclipsesoccur when anypart of the earth or moon enters the shadowof the other.
Solar Eclipse

Solar eclipse occurs at NEW MOON when moon is between the Earth and Sun
thus casting a shadow on the Earth.
Solar Eclipse

• In a solar eclipse, the Sun


is hidden (eclipsed) and
the Moon is “in the way.”
• Umbra– The region of a
shadow that is totally
shaded.
• Penumbra – The portion
of a shadow that is only
partially shaded.
Solar Eclipse

Penumbra

https://openstax.org/details/books/astronomy
Solar Eclipse Predictions (Next 10 Years)

Courtesy NASA - https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEdecade/SEdecade2021.html


Lunar Eclipse

Lunar eclipse occurs at FULL MOON when Earth is between the Moon and Sun
thus casting a shadow on the Moon.
Lunar Eclipse

Sunlight from earth’s atmosphere bathes the totally eclipsed moon


in a coppery glow.

• Lunar Eclipse – The darkening of the Moon when it moves through


Earth’sshadow.
• TheMoon darkens and turns copper-red because of sunlight
refracted through Earth’satmosphere.
Lunar Eclipse Predictions (Next 10 Years

Courtesy NASA-https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEdecade/LEdecade2021.html
Solar and Lunar Eclipses

Why do we not see an eclipse of the sun and moon every month?
The moon’s orbit around earth is tilted relative to earth’s orbit around the
sun by 50 as such not in the path of the sun (ecliptic).
Eclipses happen only when the Moon crosses the ecliptic, then the Sun,
Moon and Earth are aligned which is like twice a year.

Watch:
http://www.nelson.cengage.com/cnow/9780176681708_astro2ce/astronomy_video_wrappers/eclipses.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnZ3dogED7w
Safety Measures

A safe way to observe thesun: make a pinhole and project the image

Never look at the


Sun directly!

Always use special


solar filters, or
project the image
of the Sun.
Watch Summary Video on Eclipses

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7tnHPDH5d8
Reading Work Cited

• Textbook: Chps. 2.4-2.5 Pgs. 30-33 • GhoseSh,Milosevic-Zdjelar V.and


• Review Questions: Pg. 40 - 11, 13, ReadL., (2020)ASTRO,ThirdCanadian
14 edition. Nelson Canada.
(recommended textbook)

• Fraknoi, A., et al. (2020)


Astronomy. Houston: OpenStax.
Retrieved March 1 2020 from
https://openstax.org/details/book
s/astronomy

All images from textbook unless stated otherwise

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