First Quarter Moon
by Eckhard Slawik
Title
First Quarter Moon
Artist
Eckhard Slawik
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
First quarter Moon. Image 7 of 27. Optical image of a waxing (increasing in apparent size) half Moon 7 days into its 28-day cycle (first quarter). The lunar phases arise as the Moon's orbit of the Earth shows the Earth-facing side moving into and out of the light of the Sun. This Earth-facing side of the Moon is locked in place by the gravitational influence of the Earth. This results in a lunar day that equals the length of the lunar Earth orbit. On a waxing Moon the day-night line (terminator) marks the lunar dawn. Taken in September 2001. A sequence of the monthly cycle of Moon phases is shown on images R340/644-670.
Uploaded
May 8th, 2013
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