Phases of the Moon and Planets -- Seth Dowler

Photos of the Moon's phases:



New Moon [despite the leftside glare...]



Waxing Crescent



First Quarter



Waxing Gibbous



Full Moon !



Waning Gibbous



Third Quarter



Waning Crescent



Answers to The Phases of the Moon and Planets worksheet:

Part One

The moon must be in this phase during a solar eclipse: NEW MOON

The moon must be in this phase during a lunar eclipse: FULL MOON

Part Two

The moon will rise at this time if the phase is 1^st quarter: NOON

The moon will rise at this time if the phase is full: EVENING, 6PM

The moon will be on the meridian at this time if the phase is 3^rd quarter: MIDNIGHT

The moon will set at this time if the phase is 1^st quarter: MIDNIGHT

The moon will be on the meridian at this time if the phase is new: 6AM

If the full moon is just setting in the west,  the time of day is: 6PM

Part Three

Of the two procedures, the one in which the moon rotates with respect to the sun is: THE SECOND

The procedure which describes the moon actual position around the Earth (given the man in the moon phenomenon) is: THE FIRST

From Earth’s point of view, is the dark side always the same as the hidden?

No – the hidden side remains the same, while the side that can be seen varies in visibility.

Part Four

Do both inferior and superior planets have the same phases? If not, which are different?

They do not – the different phases are 1, 2, and 8.

At what phase do you think a superior planet will be brightest?

At the 1^st phase – then it would be brightest because it is the full phase that occurs closest to the Earth’s vicinity (thus brightest relative to our point of view).

Part Five

Does a lunar and solar eclipse occur every time the Moon completes an orbit?

--No, because of the tilt of the Earth’s orbit.

The Moon orbits the Earth once every 27.3 days, yet a full moon only occurs about every 29 days. Why are these different?

--The 27.3 timeframe refers to the moon’s sidereal orbit, which occurs in relation to the celestial sphere. That frame of reference is different from the synodic orbit, which occurs in relation to the Earth (and includes the complete phases of the moon).

If you were on a spaceship following the Earth-Moon system, would you always see the same side of the moon?

--No, because the moon rotates, while your point of view on the spaceship would not, therefore allowing varying views of the moon’s sides (technically).

If Venus really were always nearly between the Earth and the Sun in an Earth-centered universe model, then Venus would never undergo this phase: Full phase

Can a superior planet ever be seen at midnight? – yes they can!

The inferior planets are Mercury and Venus.

The superior planets are Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus.

3 things I learned in this lab:

The phases of the inferior planets resemble the Moon’s in that they have all the phases.

The phases of the superior planets do not do this, though: they almost always appear as gibbous or full.

Lastly, I learned how to tell when the moon will be rising or setting depending on what phase it is currently in.

The point of this lab was to more clearly understand what the physical dynamics of planetary phases consist of – for the Earth, Moon, and the inferior and superior planets.