4. THE MOON

The Moon does not give off it’s own light. What we see is light reflected from the Sun. We can not see the new moon because it is directly between the Earth and the Sun, so the side that is reflecting light can not be seen from Earth. As the Moon orbits our Earth, the angle that the Sun reflects light onto it continues to change. When the Moon appears to get bigger, it is called ‘waxing’. Once we have a full moon, it appears to get smaller again. This is called ‘waning’. The phases of the Moon we see in Australian are on the opposite side to what you would see if you lived in the Northern Hemisphere. This is because of the angle we view the Moon. The Moon takes approximately one month (27.3 days) to complete a full lunar cycle.

The first cycle of the Moon is called the new moon. We can not see the new moon because it is directly between the Earth and the Sun, so the side that is reflecting light can not be seen from Earth. As the Moon orbits (moves around) our Earth, the angle that the Sun reflects light onto it continues to change. We can see a full moon because the Moon does not orbit the Earth in the same plane/angle as the Earth orbits the Sun. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves in the Earth’s shadow.