The 1st and 3rd Quarter Moon
Compare/Contrast and explanation By: Eva Fooshee
Compare and contrast (from my place on Earth)
The second large difference is the shift in the amount of light seen directly after the quarter moon. The first quarter is what what we call a waning quarter, meaning that after the quarter moon the amount of light that is able to be seen becomes less and less. The third quarter, however, is a waxing quarter, meaning that after the quarter moon the amount of light seen grows.
Now onto the comparisons. Both of these moons can be seen as a half lit up moon. This, of coarse, means that these two moons have about the amount of light ( that can be seen). They also both are a halfway point between a full an new moon.
Compare and Contrast (from ISS)
Waning and Waxing
To understand waning and waxing, you must first understand the Moon's revolution. So, inn order to familiarize you with the Moon's revolution, there will be a picture below.
Okay, now that that's finally out of the way, let's start the whole waning and waxing thing. The waning part of the Moon's cycle occurs when the Moon gets closer to the sun. The sun (as stated previously) only shines on half of the Moon and as the Moon gets closer to the sun the amount amount of light we are able to see (here from Earth) becomes less. This is because the sun only shines from one place, whereas the moon moves in such way that causes our view of the reflected sunlight to be obscured. The waxing phase of the Moon's cycle is pretty much the opposite of the waning phase. During the waxing phase the Moon moves away from the Sun, and (using the same reasoning I used for waning, only backwards) let's us see more of the Sun's reflected light.