🌕

Moon Phases and Solar System Overview

Jun 3, 2025

Phases of the Moon and Solar System Overview

Phases of the Moon

  • New Moon: The moon is not visible from Earth.
  • Waxing: The lit part is growing, light appears on the right.
  • Waning: The lit part is shrinking, light appears on the left.
  • Waxing Crescent: A small sliver of light on the right.
  • First Quarter: The moon is 1/4 through its cycle.
  • Waxing Gibbous: More than half is lit on the right side.
  • Full Moon: The entire face of the moon is lit.
  • Waning Gibbous: Light starts to shrink from the left side.
  • Last Quarter (or Third Quarter): Shows the left half of the moon lit.
  • Waning Crescent: Small sliver of light on the left side.

Key Concepts

  • The moon's phases are a result of its orbit around Earth and how sunlight hits it.

Solar System Overview

Inner Planets

  • Planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
  • Composition: Rock and metal

Outer Planets

  • Planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
  • Composition: Mainly gas (hydrogen, helium, etc.)

Notable Features

  • Largest Planet: Jupiter
  • Planet with Most Visible Rings: Saturn

Additional Solar System Components

  • Asteroid Belt: Located between Mars and Jupiter.
  • Largest Object in the Asteroid Belt: Ceres, also a dwarf planet.

Dwarf Planets

  • Characteristics: Round, orbit the Sun, but haven't cleared their orbital path.
  • Examples: Pluto, Eris, Ceres, Haumea, Makemake

Other Regions

  • Kuiper Belt: A region beyond Neptune with icy bodies and dwarf planets.
  • Oort Cloud: A distant shell of icy objects, source of long-period comets.

Other Astronomical Objects

  • Comets: Composed of ice, dust, and rock, develop tails near the Sun.
  • Meteoroid: A space rock traveling in space.
  • Meteor: A meteoroid that burns in Earth's atmosphere (shooting star).
  • Meteorite: A meteor that lands on Earth.
  • Exoplanet: A planet orbiting a star outside our solar system.

Rotational and Orbital Dynamics

  • Rotation: A planet spinning on its axis, causing day and night.
  • Revolution: A planet orbiting around the Sun, causing years.
  • Uranus: Notable for spinning on its side.

Central Element

  • Center of the Solar System: The Sun.