- Author
- The StarChild Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
- Published
- March 2002
- Kind
- Government educational Q&A page for young readers
- Original
- starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question43.html
- Subject
- Space and orbital simulation
- Themes
- What the senses do
What it is
The StarChild Team at NASA Goddard runs the site. The page is the Question of the Month for March 2002. It answers one question in plain language.
What it says
- The lit part of the Moon always points toward the Sun.
- The shape seen depends on the Moon's path across the sky, which varies by season.
- A U-shaped crescent happens when the Moon travels straight down toward the horizon.
- At one northern latitude, the winter Moon sets north of west, nearly straight down.
- Some cultures called the bottom-lit Moon a wet moon, and others a dry moon.
What evidence it gives
The page gives an explanation with diagrams that were not viewed. It offers no measurements. The folklore section gives named examples such as the Hawaiian calendar.
Interests and limits
The page is aimed at children and keeps the explanation simple. The diagrams were not viewed, only the text. The page does not discuss the Southern Hemisphere in detail. The page says the information may be out of date during a government shutdown.