Just like the Earth, half of the Moon is lit by the Sun while the other half is in darkness. The phases we see ... The images of the Moon show what you see the Moon look like from Earth when it is at given points in its orbit. It does not ... A few days after new moon, we see a thin crescent in the western evening sky. read more
A crescent moon is the result of observers on Earth seeing only part of the moon lit by the Sun. During a crescent moon, 1/2 of the moon is fully lit as always, but from Earth we can only see a small section of the lit hemisphere. read more
When the moon is full, the moon is on the opposite side of the Earth from the sun. As a result, we can see the whole of the lit side of the moon. At new moon, exactly the opposite alignment exists, with the moon being between the Earth and the sun. At that point, we can only observe the shadowed side of the moon. read more