When does a cycle complete? It all depends on your frame of reference.
The Moon Dance – Learn Moon Phases
PHYSICAL ASTRONOMY BY DANIEL CUMMINGS
Learn the Moon phases by doing an easy dance.
At sunset.
Face the sun.
Point your right hand toward the Sun.
Now point your left hand toward the Sun.
Both hands should be pointing at the sun.
Now, turn a little bit to the left, keeping both hands pointing at the sun.
Swing your left arm out until it is pointing in the opposite direction from the sunset. Bring your hands together again and repeat this swinging motion.
Bring your hands together again and point them both at the sun. This time, instead of swinging, bounce your left hand, leftward, some number of times… (14 is perfect if you can do it) …until it is pointing in the completely opposite direction from the Sun at sunset. Your left hand should now be pointing East.
Was the moon at any one of those 14 hand bounce spots? That is the age of the moon in days.
Please post your questions in the comments!
Stellarium – a Gift to Humanity
Hello! Find out more about Stellarium in this tutorial that introduces several of the cool and clever things this astronomy software can do.
Stellarium – a glorious gift to Humanity in software form – gives you super powers. And best of all … It’s FREE!
Superpowers!
Always wanted to know the names of the stars and constellations? You can search, play, pan and zoom, examine, compare and anchor your knowledge.
It’s a cloudy night? No problem. You can see through the clouds!
Wished that the sky had labels on everything? Stellarium has 10 different label types.
Stop time? Move time by day, by week? Do you want to see what will happen in 2 months? Or look at the sky during the Pharoah’s reign? You can time travel.
You can easily drag and zoom, stop time, go in reverse, make a timelapse, follow the moon through its phases. You have a tool to help you understand the ecliptic and sidereal time and retrograde motion. You can see the great orbital swing of Venus as it circles the Sun.
Ok! I’m convinced by your Stellarium review. What should I do now? What’s my call to action?
Get a copy of Stellarium.
Stellarium is a free, easy to use, and powerful tool – and best of all (did I mention this already?) it’s FREE and easy to use.
I will write some specific tutorials about my favorite parts of Stellarium in 2017, but for now… go get it and play!
You will be able to see things about sky objects and movements that are impossible to see live. But, once you have seen them with the help of Stellarium, the sky will open up for you – like a gift.
The Moon Moves Toward the Dawn – a Mnemonic
Memorize this mnemonic: The moon moves toward the dawn. This phrase describes the day-by-day movement of the moon. With this simple phrase, you can understand the phases of the moon. You will actually begin to see the moon’s beautiful orbit traced out in the sky.
Repeat. The moon moves toward the dawn. The moon moves toward the dawn.
The moon moves toward the dawn.
It rises higher in the dusky sky after each day. It sweeps over the hills.
It circles and rolls. It transits. It leaves the Sun, then chases the Sun.
The moon moves toward the dawn.
Look East! That’s where the moon wants to go.
Once arrived, it crosses the face of the Sun and once again moves toward the dawn.
The moon moves toward the dawn.