230 Trees, Stars, and Birds 



When the moon is full, what phase would the earth be 

 in? In what phase does the earth give most light to 

 the moon? 



Just as we receive more light from the full moon 

 than from the crescent mpon, so the orb on which we 

 live sheds more light upon the moon when its illuminated 

 half is turned toward the moon. Then is the time to 

 see " the old moon in the new moon's arms." 



Cause of the eclipses of the moon. The sun never 

 comes between the moon and the observer. Eclipses 

 of the moon are not produced by any heavenly body 

 getting in our way so as to prevent us from seeing the 

 moon, as the moon at times prevents us from seeing the 

 sun. Lunar eclipses are produced by the earth itself 

 getting between the sun and the moon, thus shutting 

 off sunlight from the moon. Since the moon gives off 

 no light of its own, it appears dark when the sunlight 

 ceases to illuminate it. 



When the moon is eclipsed, the eclipse can be witnessed 

 from any part of the earth which is not turned away 

 from the moon or covered with clouds, and will appear 

 the same, no matter from what point it is seen. If it 

 is a partial eclipse, then people on various parts of the 

 earth will see a part of the moon illuminated by the 

 sun. If the eclipse becomes total, the moon will be 

 wholly shaded, no matter what the position of the ob- 

 server. To represent an eclipse of an imaginary moon, 

 you should first have a ball illuminated by light coming 

 from one direction only. Can you produce either a 

 total or a partial eclipse? Does the position of the 

 observer make any difference? 



