Earthed - What planet is in front of the moon to make it a half or quarter moon?

What planet is in front of the moon to make it a half or quarter moon?

Is there more than one planet, or is it always the same one?
Thanks everyone, little girl is doing a report on the moon. thank you for all the info
mwking41, your not very nice, anyone ever told you that. I bet they have..

any how thanks to the nice people my daughter and I have a better understanding of the moon..you guys are awsome!

Public Comments

Earth is the planet. It's our shadow falling on the moon that causes it to have phases.
The phases of the moon depend on the relative positions of the earth, the sun, and the moon, so....the earth casting a shado on the moon is what causesthe different phases of the moon.
Half and quarter moons aren't made by any planet's shadow. They look the way they do because of the angle that we see the moon from earth.
its always earth, when its casting a shadow onto the moon.
There is no planet that blocks the moon except during a lunar eclipse..then it's Earth. The moon's phases are a result of the angle of light received from the Sun...not from the Earth's shadow obscuring the view.
There is no planet in front of the moon that makes it half or quarter: instead, its the angle we see the light from the sun reflecting off the moon: when a moon is full, that's when the Earth is between the moon and the sun. when it is a 'new' moon, that's when the moon is in between us and the sun. when it is a half-moon, that's when it is in between those two positions, or, 90 degrees from either full or new.
Umm...you're kidding, right? We see the Moon in different phases due to the relative position of the Moon with repect to the Earth. When it is between us and the Sun, we see very little of the illuminated side of the Moon, thus we have a "New Moon". When it is behind us with respect to the Sun, we see a "Full Moon". Occaisionally, the Earth does pass through the plane of the Moon's orbit so that we are directly between the Moon and the Sun in the Moon's orbital plane. This can result in a lunar eclipse where the Earth temporarily affects the illumination of the Moon. However, there are no other planets involved. This is just a brief overview of the process. Unfortunately, the observatory website here is down at the moment, but I might be able to post the link later.

Here's more info on the phases of the Moon: http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/moon_phases

And here's a page for info on lunar eclipses:

http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/lunar.html
Go to this link and click on "Activity". Click the play button and it shows you how the moon appears as it moves around the Earth. There is no shadow of anything on it.

http://www.collinseducation.com/resources/ict%20activity/earth_FULL.swf

Whoever's doing it, giving thumbs-downs doesn't change the facts, no matter how upset they make you or how much you hate them.
The phases of the moon are determined by the position of its shadow in relation to the earth.

The moon is the closest natural heavenly body to the earth and there is no natural body between earth and moon.

This is not a dumb question, it is a search for an answer and a reasonable and civil answer is most appropriate.

Thank you for your curiosity.
its EARTH
The reason why the moon has phases is not due to a planet blocking it. It is due to the position of the moon around the earth relative to the sun. When the moon is in between the earth and sun, it's "backside" is lit so we see a new moon that is black. Think of a person standing in front of a fire at night when you are camping.

And when the moon is behind the earth it is reflecting the sunlight and we see it as full. The phases in between is due to the orbit of the moon around the earth. It will go from full to new and back and the reason why this looks like a planet is blocking it, or why it looks like a crescent sometimes is because the moon is spherical so it will have curvature to the shadow line.
WARNING: Some of the previous "answers" are simply WRONG! And taking them at face value, without seeking additional verification, can leave you knowing less than when you asked the question in the first place.

Now, to answer your question . . .

The goes around the Earth about once every month, but it is constantly illuminated by the sun (except in the cases of lunar eclipses, when it passes through the Earth's shadow). No other planet casts a shadow on the Moon. Instead, the *phases* are caused by our view point of the Moon in its monthly cycle, and how much of the face we can see is illuminated by the Sun.

When the Moon's face (the part facing us) is half illuminated, the Moon is only one fourth of the way through its journey (orbit) around the Earth. That is why we call a half (illuminated) Moon, a First or Third "Quarter Moon". This causes many people a lot of confusion. Just remember that "Quarter Moon" refers to the cycle, and not the amount we see; and the New-, Half-, and Full Moons refer to what we see, and not what part of the cycle the moon is in.

You can demonstrate this yourself if you take a ball out into the sunlight.

1. Hold the ball between you and just below the Sun. It will be very hard to see the sunlit side of the ball. (Do not look directly at the Sun.) This is the same with the New Moon.

2. Now, while facing the Sun, hold the ball out to your left side. You should see one side brightly lit up, and the other side in shadow. This is how the Moon looks at when half-full, in the First Quarter of its cycle.

3. Next, hold the ball in the direction opposite the Sun, but not in your shadow. The whole side of the ball facing you should be illuminated, just as the moon is, half way through its orbit, at Full Moon.

4. Continue moving the ball slowly around you. Observe how the light and shadow move and change places, depending on where the ball is with respect to the sun.
No planet is shading the Moon. The Moon creates its own shade.