Full Moon Image of Optical image of a full Moon days into its day cycle The Moon is full when the Earthfacing side is fully lit by the Sun The continuing motion of the Moon in its orbit around the Earth will begin to move this Earthfacing side out of the sunlight Darkness will encroach here from the righthand side as the lunar night falls on a waning Moon The Earth facing side of the Moon is locked in place by the gravitational influence of the Earth This results in a lunar day that equals the length of the lunar Earth orbit Taken in October A sequence of the monthly cycle of Moon phases is shown on images R
