Big question

为什么月亮会变形状？

Wèishénme yuèliang huì biàn xíngzhuàng?

Why does the moon change shape?

月亮看起来会变形状，是因为我们看到的是它被太阳照亮的不同部分。

Yuèliang kàn qǐlái huì biàn xíngzhuàng, shì yīnwèi wǒmen kàndào de shì tā bèi tàiyáng zhàoliàng de bùtóng bùfen.

月亮会绕着地球走，太阳的光一直都会照到它的一半。因为月亮在移动，我们从地球上看到的亮亮部分也会变，所以有时候它像圆盘，有时候像半个，有时候又像弯弯的小月牙。

Yuèliang huì ràozhe dìqiú zǒu, tàiyáng de guāng yìzhí dōu huì zhào dào tā de yíbàn. Yīnwèi yuèliang zài yídòng, wǒmen cóng dìqiú shàng kàndào de liàngliàng bùfen yě huì biàn, suǒyǐ yǒu shíhou tā xiàng yuánpán, yǒu shíhou xiàng bàn gè, yǒu shíhou yòu xiàng wānwān de xiǎo yuèyá.

你见过圆圆的月亮、半个月亮，或者像小香蕉一样的月亮吗？

Nǐ jiànguo yuányuán de yuèliang, bàn gè yuèliang, huòzhě xiàng xiǎo xiāngjiāo yíyàng de yuèliang ma?

The moon seems to change shape because we see different parts of its sunlit side.

The moon goes around Earth, and sunlight is always shining on half of it. As the moon moves, the bright part we can see from where we are changes, so sometimes it looks round, sometimes half, and sometimes like a little curved slice.

Have you seen the moon look round, half, or like a tiny banana shape?