I understand that it is the Earth’s shadow that causes moon phases. This works except for one problem, this morning the sun and the moon were out at the same time, which isn’t unusual except this time it dawned on me that if the whole Sun is out above the earth and the whole Moon is up above the Earth how is there still a shadow over the moon? Wouldn’t it have to be a full moon because the full sun is shining on it now? Or why wouldn’t the moon phases be horizontal instead of vertical?
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The earth’s shadow does not cause moon phases. The moon’s own shadow does, the same way that earth’s shadow makes it night on one side of earth. The moon goes around the Earth every 27ish days. The angle of the sun in relation to the moon when you see it determines how much of the side you can see is illuminated.
The earth’s shadow on the moon is a lunar eclipse/blood moon.
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