Phases of the Moon Photo Mosaics
As the Moon orbits Earth, its changing geometry with the Sun produces its characteristic phases (New Moon, First Quarter, Full Moon and Last Quarter). One orbit of the Moon with respect to the Sun (synodic month) has a mean duration of 29.53 days .
The composite images below are mosaics made from individual photos of the Moon and illustrate the Moon's phases over the synodic month. The individual images included in these mosaics can be found in the Moon Phases Gallery. Note that the images in each mosaic actually span several months because cloudy weather made it difficult to shoot all phases in a single synodic month.
The collection of image mosaics below illustrate how the Moon's appearance changes over the course of the synodic month. To see an enlarged view of any thumbnail, just click on it.
Phases of the Moon
The links below are tables that give the dates and times of the Moon's phases (New Moon, First Quarter, Full Moon and Last Quarter) for five time zones throughout the 21st Century.
Additional Links About the Moon
Links to tables of dates for lunar perigees, apogees, super moons, lunar nodes and standstills,
and length of the synodic month throughout the 21st Century.