8. What causes the phases of the moon? The different phases of the moon are due to varying amounts of sunlight being reflected from the moon to the Earth. During the new moon phase the moon is between the sun and the Earth and so no light from the side of the moon nearest us is reflected from the moon and the moon is not visible (except for a small amount of light known as moonshine which has been reflected off the Earth first and then the moon). During the full moon phase the moon is opposite the Earth as compared to the sun and the entire surface of the moon reflects light back to Earth. At intermediate stages between the new and full moon we see varying amounts of the surface reflecting sunlight towards the Earth. |