Lunar Luster: Boulder’s Brightening Beauty
Did you ever wonder what the different names for the phases of the moon mean? Is your knowledge of waning beginning to wax? Good news! The phase of the moon is the same in Boulder as it is in the rest of the world. If we have a full moon, the entire earth sees a full moon.
Let’s start the week and end Sunday with a moon exploration! My intention is that if you pick up or are reminded of ONE word regarding moon phases, we’ve started off the week with learning something, a great way to start the week!
Waxing Crescent Moon Over The “Mountains” We Call The “Manhattan Range.”
The phases of the Moon, including the waxing, waning, and gibbous phases, are as follows:
- New Moon: The Moon is not visible from Earth as the side facing us is not illuminated. SO, “New Moon” is “No Moon.” I always found that misleading at best. That’s just a phase I went through.
- Waxing Crescent: A small part of the Moon starts to become visible, with a crescent shape on the right side gradually increasing in size. This sliver moon always looks so cool!
- First Quarter: Half of the Moon is illuminated and visible from Earth. This phase is also known as a “half moon.”
- Waxing Gibbous: More than half of the Moon is illuminated, but it’s not yet full. The illuminated portion continues to grow, covering the right side of the Moon. This is a GREAT word (WITH A DOUBLE “B”) word. Everyone has heard it and few know what it means.
- Full Moon: The entire face of the Moon is illuminated and fully visible from Earth. We have a zillion (a technical term) terms for different types of full moons. That’s for another blog, “Full of Full Moons.”
The Recognizable And Nameable Full Moon.
- Waning Gibbous: After the full moon, the illuminated portion starts to decrease, but more than half of the Moon is still lit. So it is “gibbous” coming and going.
- Last Quarter: Also referred to as the “third quarter,” this phase is similar to the first quarter, but this time the left half of the Moon is illuminated.
- Waning Crescent: Only a small crescent on the left side remains visible as the Moon returns to the new moon phase. So if you see a sliver on the left side of the moon, you are seeing a waning, heading to “new” moon, while the sliver on the right indicates a waxing, going towards full moon.
The cycle then repeats, with the Moon going through these phases approximately every 29.5 days.
It has been a pleasure mooning us on Sunday night, Monday morning, when the moon is a waxing gibbous moon. It is “growing, and over half illuminated.
And finally, one of my favorite moon-views! I love it when the part of the moon that is not brightly lit by the sun is till visible. You can see the circle of the entire moon even though only a small portion of the moon is illuminated. Remember that the sun lights up the moon, and the changing shadow of the earth is what causes the changes in the visible moon.
May the wind be over your port bow, and may your sunscreen be thick!
Lensworth
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