The movement of the Moon

In a nutshell

The Moon orbits the Earth in $$28 \ days$$​ and goes through phases in this time. This is because it is tidally locked to the Earth and we can only observe one side of the Moon. The Moon reflects light from the Sun.

The Moon

The Moon is a rocky spherical object, with many craters and scientists have recently discovered that there is water on the Moon. It is Earth's natural satellite and on average is $$384 \ thousand \ kilometres$$​ away from Earth. 

Although you can see the Moon at night (and even sometimes in the day), it doesn't generate its own light as it reflects the Sun. 

The phases of the Moon

The Moon is tidally locked to Earth which means that only one side of the Moon is visible to Earth. This causes the Moon to appear to change shape, depending on where the Moon is around its orbit of Earth, as we can only observe the side that is lit up by the sun. 

When only the side which is in shadow faces the Earth, this is called a New Moon. When the lit up side is in full view, this is called a Full Moon. In between there are quarter moons, crescents and gibbous moons.

​Hint: Waxing means getting bigger and waning means getting smaller!