October Draconids meteor shower peaks around October 9
The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, the country's national center for studying the sky, has explained a meteor shower called the October Draconids. It is also called the Giacobinids.
The moon and the sun
Science
Grade 6
The moon looks different from day to day: half, full, or a thin crescent. When you watch it, you notice that the sun is always on the bright side of the moon. In a model experiment, shining a light on a ball makes only the lit side look bright, and moving the ball or the light changes the shape of the bright part. The shape of the moon changes in the same way, depending on where the sun and the moon are. Because that position shifts little by little, the moon waxes and wanes and looks different each day.
Moon phases
Grade 4The number of days since the new moon is called the Moon’s age. The lit side of the Moon always faces the Sun. Check the Sun, Earth and Moon in the space view, then compare it with the shape in the small window at the top left.
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Moon age: 15.3 days ・ Illuminated fraction: 100%
Positions in space
Sunlight lights up half of the Moon. As the Moon moves around Earth, our view of that bright half changes. These are the Moon’s phases. Grade 6
Sun and Moon above the horizon
Explore a 3D model of the sky around the ground. Drag to turn it, then play a day to follow the Sun and Moon.
Sun
Moon