Waxing Gibbous Moon – NASA
The waxing gibbous moon rises above Earth’s blue atmosphere in this photograph taken from the International Space Station on October 3, 2025, as it orbits 263 miles above a cloudy Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Quebec, Canada.
In our entire solar system, the only object that shines with its own light is the Sun. This light is always radiated onto the Earth and Moon from the direction of the Sun, illuminating half of our planet in its orbit and reflecting off the Moon’s surface to create moonlight. Sometimes the entire face of the Moon shines brightly. Other times we see only a thin crescent of light. Sometimes the Moon seems to disappear. These changes are called phases of the Moon. The waxing gibbous phase occurs just before the full moon.
Learn more about our Moon.
Image credit: NASA
