THE PHASES

The Moon, like the Earth to the sun, is always in motion around the Earth and as it moves it goes in a cycle which repeats once a month. These cycles are what create these distinct phases due to how much sunlight hits the moon and that is what we see on Earth. The moon cycle has eight phases called new moon, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning gibbous, third quarter, and waning crescent.