The Moon goes through a cycle of phases each month that changes our view of it based on its position in relation to the Earth and the Sun.
Many people think the lunar phases are caused by Earth’s shadow falling on the Moon. However, this is not true!
The Sun
The Sun is our closest celestial neighbour and is a central feature of our mythology and religion. The dazzling light and warmth of the Sun is a source of inspiration for us all.
The sun is made up of a complex system that includes a core, radiative zone, convective zone, photosphere, chromosphere, and corona. It has a radius of around 1,700 times the diameter of Earth, and it travels at a speed of about 136 miles per second (250 kilometers per second).
Most of the Sun’s energy is generated through its core’s process of fusing hydrogen into helium, and its CNO cycle. The sun also emits a variety of other forms of electromagnetic radiation and produces solar wind in the form of high-energy particles.
When a star like the Sun is at its red giant phase, the outer layers of the Sun puff up and expand outwards as it heats up. This is bad news for the inner planets, which can get hit by this massive heat.
At its core, the Sun’s temperatures are about 15 million degrees Celsius (27 million degrees Fahrenheit). This high temperature creates enormous pressure to fuse hydrogen into helium. This fusion produces massive amounts of energy in the form of visible light and heat.
Scientists have been tracking the Sun’s internal processes for more than 40 years. They have used spectroscopy and helioseismology to see how the sun’s atmosphere changes as it travels through space.
They’ve also used a detector under an underground mountain chain in Italy to detect neutrinos from the sun’s core, allowing them to measure the abundance of carbon and nitrogen. They’ve seen an average of 4.8 CNO neutrinos a day over the past five years.
These results help scientists to understand the evolution of a Sun-like star and how it evolves into a red supergiant. They are also helping to better explain how black holes and white dwarfs form, a common phenomenon in the universe.
As the sun’s core reaches its most extreme temperature, it begins to fuse helium into carbon and creates a white dwarf. It then begins to collapse, forming a black hole that eventually consumes the rest of the sun.
The Earth
The Moon is an important part of our planet, and it has its own phases. These phases make the moon look different to us at different times during its orbit around Earth.
The phases of the Moon are caused by the Earth’s spin. One rotation takes 24 hours. This is why the Moon appears to be in different stages of light and shadow at night.
When the Moon is low in the sky just after sunset, it’s a waxing crescent; when it’s high in the sky just before sunrise, it’s a waning crescent. Both these lunar cycles take place every 29.5 days.
In the past, the Moon was actually spinning very close to Earth. But gravity from the Earth’s huge mass pulled it away, and tidal forces kept it spinning slower. Then, the Moon’s orbit grew a little tilted — about 5 degrees off kilter — from the Earth’s orbit around the Sun.
This is what makes the Moon’s phases so different each month. Because the Moon’s orbit is so close to Earth, its side always faces the Earth. This is called synchronous rotation, and it’s the reason the Moon looks like it’s in different stages of light and shadow at night.
To help you understand the moon’s phases, try doing the simple demonstration in Figure 2.24 (and described in its associated video). Hold a ball at arm’s length to represent the Moon and your head to represent Earth. As you slowly spin around, you’ll see the ball go through phases just like the Moon.
The Earth has many layers, which interact with each other all the time. These layers include the crust, mantle, and core.
These layers form the foundation of our planet, and they all play an important role in creating the environment that allows life to thrive. From the smallest organisms to the largest animals and plants, everything on our planet has a purpose.
God created the earth to be a place where His image-bearers can dwell in relationship with Him. This includes worship, unselfish fellowship, spiritual maturity, stewardship of society, and care for the natural world.
The Moon
The Moon phases depend on the relationship between the Earth, sun and moon. Over the course of a month, the Moon appears to change shape as it orbits the Earth and is illuminated by the sun.
The moon and sun look the same size from Earth because of an optical illusion called the ‘Earth Effect’. This is because the moon and sun are so close to us that sunlight seems to fall on both of them at the same time, even though it is actually coming from different directions.
During the day, the sun and moon are at right angles to each other with the sun’s rays illuminating half of the moon’s surface. At night, the moon’s illuminated side faces the Earth and we can see the other half of its surface.
As the Moon orbits the Earth, the illuminated portion of its surface changes. This process is known as the lunar cycle.
Over a lunar month, the moon undergoes eight different phases (known as ‘phases’). In each phase the Moon’s illuminated area increases or decreases, and the Moon passes through different parts of the Earth’s shadow.
In the Northern Hemisphere, during the ‘waxing’ phase from new Moon to full Moon, the illuminated part of the Moon gradually grows in size and is seen as a crescent moon. In the next week, the waxing portion of the Moon moves from a crescent to a semicircle and then into a gibbous moon.
The Moon’s illuminated side also decreases in size during the ‘waning’ phase. In the evening, the Moon’s illuminated side is seen as a small egg-shaped moon that disappears in the morning.
There is also a rare occasion when the Moon, Earth and Sun line up precisely to create a lunar eclipse, which darkens the Moon. These eclipses happen around twice a year and can last for less than a minute.
You can learn more about the phases of the moon by making observations of the apparent shape of the moon each day and recording your findings. You can then use these observations to create a model of the moon and explore how these changes in the shape could be explained by the Earth’s movement in its orbit.
The Optical Illusion
The moon has long been a source of mystery to people, and figuring out exactly how the different phases of the moon are caused has often been difficult. Nevertheless, it is now possible to pinpoint the exact process that causes each phase of the moon to appear to us in different levels of shadow.
Fortunately, there is an easy way to do this! Just take a look at the following animation of how the moon changes its appearance as it orbits around the Earth. This effect, known as lunar libration, is subtle to the naked eye, yet it is noticeable in time-lapse photography.
It’s important to remember that a single photon of light can cause different effects on your retinas, depending on what it is you are looking at. These effects are called optical illusions, and they occur when the brain is confused about what it is seeing.
An optical illusion is when you see parts of an image that are not actually there, and this can be caused by a number of factors. Some of these effects are physiological, while others involve cognitive processes.
These illusions can be fun and mind-bending! They also give you a glimpse into how the brain works.
One of the most common optical illusions is called the Herman Grid Illusion, and it uses your visual system to create an image. In this illusion, black boxes and white lines seem to cross over each other. The trick is that your brain takes advantage of its visual system to make the colors seem contrasting.
This illusion isn’t always easy to decipher, but it can be helpful for understanding how your brain interprets images. It involves the use of S1 simple cells in your primary visual cortex, which is responsible for constructing meaning from your visual information.
This optical illusion is one of the most effective ways to prove that your brain can successfully process images, even when they don’t match up with reality. To get the best results, try to avoid focusing on the image in question.