1. New Moon

New moons are very difficult to see because a new moon is always closest to the sun. In other words, the sun isn’t shining on the moon from Earth’s perspective. That’s what makes is so hard to see a new moon. If the sun is on the other side of the moon, then this means that it’s a new moon. And this is really the first phase of the 8 major phases of the moon.

2. Waxing Crescent Moon

Because the moon orbits the Earth, it moves a bit to the east after a couple of days. Now, we can see the moon at a slight angle with only a partial bit of it lit up. At this point, the crescent is still very thin. Similar to the new moon, a waxing crescent moon is still close to the moon but it has moved a bit to the east.

3. First Quarter Moon (Half Moon)

When you see half of the dark and light side, then this means the moon is half full. The moon is orbiting and the waxing crescent moon is growing into a first quarter moon. During a first quarter moon, the moon is farther away from the sun and it’s easier to see. This is the first time that the day-night line on the moon is half-way lit up. But it’s called a first quarter moon because its 1/4 of the way through it’s cycle back to a new moon.

4. Waxing Gibbous Moon

As it grows a bit more, it becomes a waxing gibbous moon. And gibbous simply means “convex” – that it’s more than half of a circle but less than a full circle. In this phase, we are very close to the moon being fully lit up from the sun. As the moon orbits the Earth more so, it finally approaches a full moon.

5. Full Moon

A full moon is fully lit up from the perspective of the Earth. When the moon is on the opposite side of the Earth, the sun illuminates in its full. At this point, the moon has moved half-way through its orbit at 180 degrees. During a full moon, the Earth is between the sun and moon and is when the werewolves begin to transform.

6. Waning Gibbous Moon

At this point, the moon is starting to orbit past 180 degrees into a waning gibbous moon. And we will cycle through the first 4 phases of the moon. Instead this time, it will be in reverse order. The waning gibbous moon means that its illuminated side is starting to shrink from a full moon. Waning means that the moon appears to recede in size because the sun is progressively illuminating a smaller portion of its visible surface.

7. Last Quarter Moon (Half Moon)

Once again, we are at a point where the moon appears to split in half as a last quarter moon. At this phase of the moon, it has cycled through 3/4 of its life. But it has reversed which side is lit by the sun. And instead of it progressively appearing fuller, we begin to see less of the moon. It visibly appears to be shrinking as it approaches back to a new moon.

8. Waning Crescent Moon

A couple days after, you get a waning crescent moon. We start to see less and less of the moon as the moon orbits past the 270° cycle. When the moon has completed its full 360° orbit around the Earth, we are back to the first phase. The new moon phase marks the starting point of a brand-new cycle of the moon.