by johnnydeep » Sat Nov 19, 2022 3:56 pm
Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Sat Nov 19, 2022 3:39 pm
johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sat Nov 19, 2022 3:32 pm
Yet another astronomical thing I didn't appreciate, which meant that the text referring to this clearly half-illuminated moon as the "last quarter" phase surprised me. But, as usual, I was mistaken about the terminology:
https://earthsky.org/moon-phases/last-quarter/ wrote:The last quarter moon falls one week after the full moon. From Earth, we see the moon half-lit. Actually, we’re seeing one quarter of the moon – hence the name – because the rest of the lit part is on the far side where we can’t see it. A last quarter moon looks like half a pie. It is also called third quarter moon.
And from
Wikipedia,
It is a common point of confusion when I try explaining the terms to students and others. There is "quarter" in the sense of the appearance of the Moon, and there is "quarter" in the sense of time... where the Moon is in its monthly cycle. Of course, people commonly call both first quarter Moon and a last quarter Moon "half moon".
Yup. Visually, the moon phases
should rightly be: new, first quarter, waxing half, waxing three quarter, full, waning three quarter, waning half, waning quarter, new.
[quote="Chris Peterson" post_id=327262 time=1668872341 user_id=117706]
[quote=johnnydeep post_id=327261 time=1668871944 user_id=132061]
Yet another astronomical thing I didn't appreciate, which meant that the text referring to this clearly half-illuminated moon as the "last quarter" phase surprised me. But, as usual, I was mistaken about the terminology:
[quote=https://earthsky.org/moon-phases/last-quarter/]The last quarter moon falls one week after the full moon. From Earth, we see the moon half-lit. Actually, we’re seeing one quarter of the moon – hence the name – because the rest of the lit part is on the far side where we can’t see it. A last quarter moon looks like half a pie. It is also called third quarter moon.[/quote]
And from [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_phase#Phases_of_the_Moon]Wikipedia[/url],
[img2]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Moon_phases_en.jpg[/img2]
[/quote]
It is a common point of confusion when I try explaining the terms to students and others. There is "quarter" in the sense of the appearance of the Moon, and there is "quarter" in the sense of time... where the Moon is in its monthly cycle. Of course, people commonly call both first quarter Moon and a last quarter Moon "half moon".
[/quote]
Yup. Visually, the moon phases [i]should[/i] rightly be: new, first quarter, waxing half, waxing three quarter, full, waning three quarter, waning half, waning quarter, new. :ssmile: