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Credit & Copyright: AntÑnio CidadÖo
Explanation:
Our Moon's appearance changes nightly.
This time-lapse sequence shows
what our Moon looks like during a
lunation, a complete lunar cycle.
As the
Moon orbits the
Earth,
the half illuminated by the
Sun first becomes increasingly visible,
then decreasingly visible.
The Moon
always keeps the same face toward the Earth.
The Moon's apparent size changes slightly, though,
and a slight wobble called a
libration is discernable as it progresses along its elliptical orbit.
During the
cycle, sunlight reflects from the
Moon
at different angles, and so illuminates different features differently.
A full
lunation takes about 29.5 days, just under a month
(moon-th).
Click on the picture to view the animated gif file.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: lunation - Moon
Publications with words: lunation - Moon
See also: