Crescent Moon

A crescent moon is a phase of the lunar cycle where only a small, curved sliver of the moon’s surface is illuminated by the Sun, creating a shape similar to a thin crescent. This occurs when the moon is between the new moon and the first or last quarter phases. The shape appears because of the angle between the Earth, Moon, and Sun. As the moon orbits Earth, the amount of the illuminated side visible from our perspective changes, producing the crescent shape during transitions between new and quarter moon phases.