"If the moon and a planet are near Castor and Pollux you have an impressive show." From our earthly perspective, the moon and Mars will appear closest to each other at around 8 p.

During the waxing gibbous moon phase, the illuminated portion of the moon in still "waxing" or increasing. The word "gibbous," derived from the Latin word for "hump," refers to the convex shape.

There are eight phases of the Moon beginning with the new Moon, followed by waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full Moon, waning gibbous, third quarter and finally waning crescent.

Of all the phases that the moon goes through over 29.5 days, a waxing gibbous is probably the most frequently observed. The word gibbous is derived from the Latin gibbus, which literally means "hump." ...