Lunar Phases

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Lunar Phases and Eclipses

Created by the Lunar and Planetary Institute

For Educational Use Only

LPI is not responsible for the ways in which this powerpoint may be used or altered.

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Preliminary Topics

Before students can understand the reason for phases, they need to understand:

The Moon orbits the Earth

The Moon orbit at an angle with respect to the Earth’s orbit around the Sun

The Moon doesn’t shine on its own; it reflects sunlight

The scale of the Moon and Earth’s sizes and distance

Please go through Earth and Moon statistics before trying to cover the reason for phases or eclipses.

Ecliptic plane

Moon’s orbital plane

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New (couple days) Waxing Crescent (several days) 1st Quarter Waxing Gibbous (several days) Full Waning Gibbous (several days) 3rd Quarter Waning Crescent (several days) New

Phases: Observing and Identifying

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Phases--Causes

The Sun shines on the Moon.

When the sunlight reflects off the Moon’s far side, we call it a New Moon

When the sunlight reflects off on the Moon’s near side, we call it a Full Moon

Between New and Full, we see parts of the daytime side of the Moon.

Golfball and Blacklight Activity

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Please do NOT use this to teach phases;

use to test for comprehension

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Eclipses

The Sun and Moon occasionally line up so that we have an eclipse.

These eclipses happen every year

To see a solar eclipse, you need to be on a particular part of the Earth

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When the Earth’s shadow covers the Moon, we have a lunar eclipse

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Three types of Lunar Eclipses

Penumbral lunar eclipse—the Moon only passes through the penumbra of Earth’s shadow

Partial lunar eclipse—part of the Moon passes through the umbra of Earth’s shadow

Total lunar eclipse—the entire Moon passes through the umbra of Earth’s shadow