What are the lunar phases?

1.	What are the lunar phases?
Answer» The moon is spherical in shape and it receives light from the sun. Therefore, the light of the sun falls on the half portion of the moon and its other half always remains in darkness. Once in a month, the moon’s fully illuminated face is visible in front of the earth. In India, it is known as Poornima. In the same way, once in a month, the dark portion of the moon is visible in front of the earth. This condition is known as Amavasiya. From the Poornima to Amavasiya, the illuminated part of the moon keeps on decreasing and from the Amavasiya to Poornima, this part keeps on increasing. These increasing and decreasing shapes of the moon are called the lunar phases.

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