How to Recognize the First of the Last Quarter of Moon?

 

In the northern hemisphere, when the moon is growing, in the first quarter you can write a P with the shape of the Moon. In the last quarter, it is said that the Moon is lying because it forms a C like growing. But it is not the growing Moon but the descending Moon; you can draw a d with the shape of the half-moon.

In the Southern Hemisphere, the Sun always lights up the Moon in the same way but the movements are reversed because people are “upside down”. The Moon and all the stars rise to the east, but they rise above the northern meridian and not above the southern meridian and lie to the west. On the other hand, contrary to what produces in the northern hemisphere, the Moon is not lying; when it is growing it forms a C, and when it is descending it forms a D.

On the left, the difference between the sidereal (A, A ‘) and synodic (A, B) revolutions causes the Moon to retreat every day by 50 minutes from the Earth-Sun line or from a landmark that you have taken from the landscape. On the right, if you live in the northern hemisphere here is something to know if you observe the first or the last quarter of the moon. In the southern hemisphere it’s the opposite.

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