Here's why:
* Lunar Phases: The moon doesn't emit its own light; it reflects sunlight. As the moon orbits the Earth, the amount of sunlit surface we see changes, creating different phases.
* New Moon: At the new moon, the moon is between the Earth and the Sun, so we see none of its sunlit side (it's essentially invisible).
* Waxing Phases: After the new moon, the illuminated portion of the moon grows larger, moving through the phases of waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, and finally full moon.
* Full Moon: The full moon occurs when the Earth is between the sun and the moon, so we see the entire sunlit side.
* Waning Phases: After the full moon, the illuminated portion of the moon shrinks, moving through the phases of waning gibbous, last quarter, waning crescent, and back to the new moon.
Therefore, the moon on July 2nd might be in a waxing phase, while the moon on July 16th might be in a waning phase.
To know the exact phases for July 2nd and 16th, you would need to refer to a lunar calendar.
