Why the Moon Changes Shape
The moon does not actually change shape! It is always a round sphere. But the amount of the moon we can see lit up by the sun changes as the moon orbits around Earth.
The moon does not make its own light — it reflects the sun's light, like a mirror. As the moon moves around Earth (which takes about 29.5 days), the sun lights up different portions of the moon's face from our point of view.
When the moon is between Earth and the sun, the sun lights up the side facing AWAY from us. We see only the dark side — this is called a New Moon. The sky looks moon-less on new moon nights.
When Earth is between the moon and the sun, the sun lights up the entire face of the moon facing us. This is a Full Moon — big, bright, and beautiful!
Between new and full, we see different amounts of the lit-up side. These are the moon's phases, and they follow the same pattern every month, like clockwork.
**Did You Know:** The same side of the moon always faces Earth! The 'dark side' (far side) was not photographed until 1959, when a Soviet spacecraft flew around the moon.