Are the phases of the moon created by the earth’s shadow? And, if so, how can i see the moon in its phase during the daytime?
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Turn on a lamp in a darkened room and grab any small spherical object.
With the lamp behind you, hold the object out in front of you, but away from your own shadow. This is a full moon at midnight.
Still holding the object in front of you, turn to your left. This is a last quarter moon at sunrise.
Turn left again. Hold the object so it doesn’t quite block the lamp’s light. This is a new moon at noon.
Turn left again. This is a first quarter moon at sunset.
Now, if you could find a way to suspend the object in each of these positions so you don’t have to hold it yourself, you can turn around to the left in place to simulate how the sun and moon cross the sky as the Earth turns.
The relative angle between the sun and moon as the moon orbits around the Earth causes the moon’s phase change. The darkened portion is simply the half of the moon which faces away from the sun.
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