The waxing gibbous moon rises above Earth’s blue atmosphere in this photograph taken from the International Space Station on Oct. 3, 2025, as it orbited 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. That light always beams onto Earth and the Moon from the direction of the Sun, illuminating half of our planet in its orbit and reflecting off the surface of the Moon to create moonlight. Sometimes the entire face of the Moon glows brightly. Other times we see only a thin crescent of light. Sometimes the Moon seems to disappear. These shifts are called Moon phases. The waxing gibbous phase comes just before the full moon.
Image credit: NASA
这张照片拍摄于2025年10月3日，国际空间站在距地263英里高空、飞越加拿大魁北克外海多云的大西洋上空时，盈凸月在地球蓝色大气层上方缓缓升起。
在整个太阳系中，唯一能自己发光的天体是太阳。太阳光始终从同一方向照射地球与月球，使地球在公转中总有一半被照亮，而月光则来自月球表面对阳光的反射。有时月面的整个朝向地球的一侧都被照亮；有时我们只能看到一条细细的弯月；有时月亮甚至似乎消失。这些变化被称为月相，而盈凸月正是满月之前的一个阶段。
图片来源: NASA
