Near side lunar phase image set rendered using POV-Ray v3.7 and the Lunar Phase Series Generator program v7, by Jay Tanner.
The image set consists of 361 renderings of the geocentric moon at 1-degree intervals of phase from zero to 360 degrees.
Size : 256x256 pixels Format : PNG - Grayscale on transparent background
Author : Jay Tanner - 2015
License : These images are released under the provisions of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode
Imagine the sun traveling clockwise around a giant circle with the moon fixed in the center and directly to the front is zero degrees. The phase angle is the same as the position of the sun on this circle, measured from 0 to 360°. When the sun is 90 degrees to the right, we see the first quarter phase. As the sun traverses the circle, the moon goes through all its phases.
Moon directly to front. North is upward. Sun moves clockwise around lunacentric phase circle.
| ANGLE | PHASE | EYE VIEW |
|---|---|---|
| 0° | New Moon | Sun horizontally aligned with Moon |
| 90° | First Quarter | Sun directly to right |
| 180° | Full Moon | Sun directly behind |
| 270° | Last Quarter | Sun directly to left |
| 360° | New Moon | Sun horizontally aligned with Moon |