Book 2, Question 137
Why Does the Moon Change Shape?
Sometimes the moon looks like a big circle, and sometimes like a thin banana. The sun lights different slices! The moon is a ball, and we see the part the sun is lighting.
From the book
Page from A Million Whys Book 2
More fun facts
- The Moon is roughly a quarter the size of Earth.
- The Moon travels around Earth in about 27 days.
- The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite.
- On a thin crescent Moon, you can sometimes see the dark part glowing faintly. This is called earthshine.
- About 500 years ago, Leonardo da Vinci explained earthshine: sunlight bounces off Earth to the Moon and back to us.
Sources: NASA Space Place, NASA Science, NASA Science
Questions kids ask
How far away is the Moon?
On average, the Moon is about 238,855 miles from Earth.