Lunar cycle

What the shape of the moon looks like from Earth due to the amount of sunlight that is hitting it.  Throughout the time of a month, the moon will go through its entire lunar cycle.  Depending on what phase of the cycle the moon is in, the shape from Earth will look different.  At the start of the moon cycle, the new moon has no extra light hitting it so it will look pale or hard to see.  It will then be a slowly waxing crescent until it is a half moon, which it will then be a waxing gibbous until it is a full moon.  The cycle then repeats in reverse until it returns to a new moon, except instead of the process being called waxing, it will be called waning.