Lynne Roth, age 10, of Renick, W. Virginia, for her question:

Why do they call it a New Moon?

Naturally it is the same old moon we saw last month and the month before that. So it seems rather silly to call the thin golden crescent a new moon. Our ancient ancestors noticed how the moon changes through the month. They wanted names for its different phases, but most likely they didn't know as much about the moon as we do today.

Actually, it seems sensible to think of the four changing phases as a sort of life cycle. Each new cycle begins with the thin crescent of a new moon. In about a week, this first phase grows to a half circle and in about two weeks it becomes the complete circle of the full moon. After that, the side where the new moon began becomes dark and invisible. And during the next two weeks or so, the golden moon shrinks to another slim crescent on the opposite side. This is the old moon. It is old because it disappears for a short while before the next new moon appears