Phases of the MoonExplanation: (xxxedit and linkxxx) Look at the Moon every night and its visible sunlit portion changes. In phases progessing from New Moon to Full Moon to New Moon again, a lunation or lunar cycle is completed in about 29.5 days. Top left to bottom right, these 25 frames show the progression of lunar phases for 25 consecutive nights beginning on January 18. Following almost a complete lunation, they skip 2 days after and 2 days before New Moon, when the lunar phase is a narrow crescent, close to the Sun and really hard to see. A friend and mostly clear Arizona night skies were required to complete this lunar cycle project, imaging in early evening for the first half and late evening and early morning for the second half of the lunation. For extra credit, this cycle was centered on the Full Moon of January 31. That was the second Full Moon in January and near lunar orbit perigee, taking on reddish hues during a total lunar eclipse.
| << Previous APOD | This Day in APOD | Next APOD >> |
