Movements of the Moon
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At night, the moon is often visible as the largest and brightest object in the sky. It appears to be much larger than the stars around it. This is because the moon is much closer to the Earth than the stars. The small and sometimes faint stars you see in the night sky are much larger than the moon. They appear smaller and less bright because they are much further away.
Just as the Sun’s gravity causes the Earth to orbit the Sun, the Earth’s gravity causes the moon to orbit the Earth. It takes the moon about 27.3 days to revolve once around the Earth. It also takes the moon about 27 days to rotate once on its axis. This means the side of the moon facing the Earth is always the same.
The moon is not a source of light. We see the moon in the sky because it reflects the light from the Sun. If you observe the moon at different times of the month, you will notice it appears to change shape. The apparent changes in shape, called phases of the moon, are caused by different amounts of the moon reflecting the light from the Sun.
Scientists have names for the moon at different times of the month based on the moon’s movement and the amount of light it is reflecting. During waxing phases of the moon, the lit up part of the moon we see increases in size until we see a full moon. During waning phases of the moon, the lit up part of the moon we see decreases in size until there is a new moon. We cannot see a new moon because the lit side of the moon is facing away from the Earth.