The Waning Gibbous Moon
The waning gibbous Moon is just past full and illuminated generally from the left. This is the phase of the Moon that you see rising late in the evening. The waning gibbous Moon rides across the sky for most of the night and is still above the western horizon at sunrise. The Moon is in this phase for about a week between full and third quarter. For a few days or so after Full Moon the waning gibbous Moon appears nearly full and might be mistaken for a full Moon. The Moon in this phase sets just shortly after sunrise and is generally seen low in the west by casual observers early in the morning.
Thoughts about Moon phases in general.
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