what is a quarter moon
Quarter Moon, captured by NASA astronauts. Image credit: NASA. You can have a first quarter moon, when the Moon is halfway between a new moon and full moon. A new moon occurs when the Moon is directly in between the Sun and the Earth. From that perspective, the illuminated Moon is facing away from the Earth.
Moon phases depend on the position of both the Sun and Moon with respect to the Earth. The 4 primary phases of the Moon are: new, first quarter, full and third quarter.