"Gibbous" Moon

No matter how old we get, there is always wa-a-ay more out there to learn. Thank heavens for Google, right? Recently I came across the term "gibbous moon", and recalled having read it in a poem (perhaps "Jabberwocky"?). I found that, once again, I absolutely had to know what it meant. Goggle has many, many references that explain the term in many, many ever-so-slightly different ways, but this is the best because there are pictures!

For those of you who are leery about accessing sites you aren't sure about, here is the explanation in a nutshell: A waning gibbous moon is a bit more than half illuminated on the left side. A waxing gibbous moon is a bit more than half illuminated on the right side. So, to be "gibbous", the moon phase has to be approximately halfway between a full moon and a new moon. Got it? To really complicate things, a gibbous moon is close to the horizon, so not all that easy to see. Fun, huh?