astronomy answers

8/4/2019 Astronomy Answers

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Astronomy Answers

AstronomyAnswerBook: The Moon

1. The Moon ...2. The Moon Has No Natural Moons... 3. The Moon Falls Towards But

Not Onto The Earth ... 4. Daytime and Nighttime Moons... 5. If the Moon Disappeared ...6. The Influence of the Moon... 6.1. Direct Influence by the Moon ... 6.2. Indirect

Influence by the Moon ... 6.3. Correlation with the Lunar Phase ... 6.4. The Phase of the

Moon Might Have Influence on... ... 6.4.1. ... Insomnia... 6.5. The Phase of the MoonCan Have a Tiny Effect on... ... 6.5.1. ... the Weather... 6.6. The Phase of the Moon has

no Influence on...... 6.6.1. ... the Gender of Children... 6.6.2. ... the Birth Date of

Children ... 6.6.3. ... the running over of a glass of water... 6.7. The Moon and theTemperature... 7. People on the Moon... 8. The Mean Moon ... 9. The Surface Markings

of the Moon ...10. Moon Rocks ... 11. The Formation of the Moon ... 12. Heat from the

Moon ... 13. The Moon has no Atmosphere ...14. The Center of the Moon ...15. Travelto the Moon ... 16. The Size of the Moon... 17. The Distance of the Moon... 18. How

Full is the Full Moon? ...19. Dates of Full and New Moon ... 20. Lunar Phases and

Constellations ... 21. The Direction of Moonrise and Moonset ... 22. The Direction of the

Full Moon ... 23. The Month ... 24. Day and Night on the Moon ... 25. The Orientation ofthe Crescent Moon... 26. The Illuminated Part of the Edge of the Moon... 27. The Near

Side of the Moon ... 28. Names of Full Moons ... 29. The Name of the Daytime Moon ...

30. Full Moon Around the World ... 31. The Brightness of the Moon... 32. Conjunctionsof the Moon with a Planet ... 33. Is the Moon Heating Up?

This page answers questions about the Moon. The questions are:

[571] In the tropics the waxing Moon sometimes looks like a letter "C" and

sometimes like a "D". How is that possible?

[567] Why is the least distance between the Moon and the Earth not the same

every month?

[566] I the first quarter moon found in the same constellation each month?

[562] How long after sunset is the brightness of the sky equal to the brightness of

the full moon?

[558] Which is brighter: the Moon or the stars?

[530] How do I calculate the number of Full Moons between two dates?

[523] Are the Moon and planets getting hotter due to increased solar activity?

[512] Where do the surface features (mountains, seas, crates) on the Moon come

from? [510] Why can't I see a Full Moon during the day?

[503] Why does the Moon slowly move away from the Earth, even though that

takes energy?

[498] When does the Moon rise the most towards the North along the horizon?

[497] Is a major standstill of the Moon always at a Full Moon?
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[496] When is the next major standstill of the Moon?

[489] How long does Full Moon last?

[486] How full is the Full Moon?

[476] Do we always see the same side of the Moon from Earth?

[475] How long do day and night last on the Moon?

[470] Is the Full Moon at midnight on 21 December as high in the sky as the Sunis at noon on 21 June?

[468] The Moon doesn't rotate around its own axis, because we always see the

same side of it -- or does it?

[465] I read somewhere that in 1687 someone discovered that a glass filled to the

brim with water would run over at the instant of new and full moon (and that that

could be used to determine the longitude). Is that correct?

[463] How heavy is a space suit on Earth? And on the Moon? [462] How can one predict occultations and transits of the moons of Jupiter from

their synodical periods?

[461] How can one calculate the synodical periods of the moons of Jupiter from

their sidereal periods? [458] Where can I find the directions of moonrise and moonset for my town for

all days of the year?

[455] If the gravity of the Moon is strong enough to move huge amounts of water

(in the tides), then why don't we feel many pounds lighter when the Moon is high

overhead?

[447] If I let drop two blocks of equal size, one of 10 kg and the other one of 50kg, from the Moon to the Earth, then which one reaches Earth first?

[445] Can heat from the Moon affect the weather on Earth?

[444] Does any heat from the Sun get reflected to the Earth by the Moon, anddoes that correlate with the phase of the Moon?

[441] Does the Moon have any moons of its own?

[437] Why doesn't the Moon fall unto the Earth?

[435] What is the name for the Moon that is seen in full daylight?

[417] Does the Moon rise every night at the same time and in the same direction?

[415] How do I calculate the position of the Moon?

[407] What is the cause of a large white circle around the Moon?

[405] What is the orientation of the planes of the orbits of the moons of Jupiter,

compared to the axis of rotation of the planet?

[404] Do the nighttime and daytime Moons look alike?

[400] Can all four major moons of Jupiter ever stand on the same side of Jupiter?

[398] How many people have seen the far side of the Moon?

[397] What is the distance between the Earth and the Moon?

[389] What would happen to the Earth if the Moon disappeared?

[385] Have people put seismographs on the Moon?

[384] Why does the direction where the Moon rises change a lot from day to day?

[382] What effects does the Moon have on Earth?

[372] Do I see the same full moon as someone halfway around the world?

[352] Why does Venus have no moons?
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[343] How can the top of the Moon ever be illuminated when the Moon is high in

the sky and the Sun is low in the sky?

[342] Why is the Full Moon never in the west in the evening?

[341] Do you need a large launch construction and lots of fuel for the trip home

from the Moon, just like for the trip to the Moon?

[320] What are the major standstill and minor standstill of the Moon? [311] Why are the spin period and orbital period of the Moon equal to one

another?

[303] How fast does the Moon move relative to everything else?

[302] Why is the Earth's Moon so much larger than almost all other moons?

[299] What are moons made of?

[298] What are the names of all moons?

[292] How do astronomers calculate the path of the shadow of the Moon on Earthduring a solar eclipse?

[287] Is the Moon bigger than the stars?

[283] How many times does the Moon orbit around the Earth each year?

[265] Why do constellations and the Sun and the Moon appear larger when theyare close to the horizon and smaller when they are overhead?

[244] How many moons do Venus and the other planets have?

[232] Why do I sometimes not see the Moon at night for two weeks in a row?

[229] How many moons are there around the Sun?

[224] The moons of the other planets all have their own name, so what is our

moon's own name? [221] Where does the name of the moon Rhea come from?

[205] How many people have been on the Moon so far?

[197] Can a Space Shuttle fly to the Moon or to Mars?

[195] Is there more insomnia at full moon?

[189] How was the Moon formed?

[185] When and why were the mean Moon and mean conjunction invented?

[182] Are more baby's born at Full Moon?

[172] What have samples from the Moon told us about the Moon and the origin of

the Solar System?

[171] What caused the craters, maria, and other surface features of the Moon?

[163] When is the next conjunction of the Moon with Jupiter?

[160] Why does the Moon have a characteristic color during a total lunar eclipse?

[153] Is it correct that the Moon is slowly moving away from the Earth and thatbecause of this there won't be any total solar eclipses anymore in the distant

future?

[137] Do all planets have moons?

[134] Why can we see the Moon at night?

[123] How do we know that the Moon has no large molten core?

[106] Does the Moon generate heat?

[99] Why does the Moon have no atmosphere?

[90] How does the Moon move along the sky and what does it look like then?

[89] When is there going to be another Blue Moon?

[82] Why are we so much lighter on the Moon?
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[79] Does the Moon influence the gender of babies?

[76] How long does it take to travel from the Earth to the Moon in a rocket?

[67] How long does the Moon take to rotate once around its axis?

[65] What is the total surface area of the Moon?

[56] Which is larger: the Earth or the Moon?

[53] Is the weather better when it is Full Moon? [52] On what dates is it Full Moon?

[47] Why is the crescent moon as seen from the equator horizontal and not

vertical like it appears from the northern hemisphere?

[45] Why do we always see the same side of the Moon?

[43] What is a Sturgeon Moon? What makes it different from, say, a Harvest

Moon or a Wolf Moon?

[39] If it is Full Moon where I am at some date, is it then also Full Mooneverywhere else on that same date?

[21] How bright is the Moon?

The Sky and Horizon-page explains how the Moon moves along the sky and what thephases of the Moonlook like then.

[134]

1. The Moon

The Moonis the only naturalsatellite of theEarth and orbits around the Earth. We canonly see the Moon because it reflects light from the Sun, just like all othermoons and

planets are only visible because they reflect light from the Sun. TheMoonis below the

horizon (invisible) for on average half of thetime, is visible during on average about half

of the daytime, and is visible during on average about half of the nighttime as well.

Read the Sky and Horizon-page to find out about the phases of the Moon.

[397]

The distance between the centers of the Earth and the Moon is about 384,400 km onaverage, but varies between about 356,400 and about 406,700 km.

The Moon recedes from the Earth at an average rate of about 3.8 cm peryear, but the

monthly peak-to-peak variation in the distance of the Moon from the Earth is about

40,000 km, which is far greater. The long-term rate of change is far smaller than the

short-term variability.

[417]

The Moon rises at a differenthoureach day, and also sets at a different hour each day,because the Moon moves quite a distance in the sky relative to the stars each day. See

question 63.
http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v79http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v76http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v67http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v65http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v56http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v53http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v52http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v47http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v47http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v45http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v43http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v43http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v39http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v39http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v21http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/hemel.htmlhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/manen.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/manen.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/manen.html#satellitehttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/manen.html#satellitehttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/planeten.html#Earthhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/planeten.html#Earthhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Earthhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Earthhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/manen.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/licht.html#lighthttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Sunhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#moonshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/planeten.html#planetshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/zon.html#sunhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/hemel.html#horizonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/tijd.html#timehttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/tijd.html#timehttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/hemel.htmlhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/boom/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/kalenders.html#yearhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=hourhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=hourhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/sterren.html#starshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/hemel.html#v63http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v79http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v76http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v67http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v65http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v56http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v53http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v52http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v47http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v47http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v45http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v43http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v43http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v39http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v39http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v21http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/hemel.htmlhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/manen.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/manen.html#satellitehttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/planeten.html#Earthhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Earthhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/manen.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/licht.html#lighthttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Sunhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#moonshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/planeten.html#planetshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/zon.html#sunhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/hemel.html#horizonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/tijd.html#timehttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/hemel.htmlhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/boom/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/kalenders.html#yearhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=hourhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/sterren.html#starshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/hemel.html#v63


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[415]

A method for calculating the approximate position of the Moon is described on theCalculation Page on Positions in the Sky.

[441]

2. The Moon Has No Natural Moons

If the Moonhas any natural moons of its own, then they must be really small. No suchmoons have ever been discovered. Amoon with a diameter of 5 km (3 mi) in orbit around

ourMoon and made of the same material as the Moon would be as bright in the sky as

the brightest stars, so such a moon would have been discovered long ago.

If such a moon had a diameter of 500 m (1500 ft), then it would be as bright as thefaintest starsthat one can see without binoculars or a telescope from a dark place, so such

a moon would probably have been discovered by now as well.

Pluto was discovered in 1930 with a brightness that was 1200 times less than that. If thesecondmoon had a diameter of about 12 m (30 ft) then it would look about as faint as

Pluto, but we've had the technology to detect even such a small moon since (before)

1930.

Nowadays there are even better telescopes, and there is a far greaternumberof telescopesthan in 1930, so it seems very likely to me that even a second moon as small as 12 m in

diameter would have been seen by now by many (amateur)astronomers.

The Spacewatch Project (http://spacewatch.lpl.arizona.edu/scopes.html) searches the sky

automatically for celestial objects that might hit the Earth. Their telescopes can detectcelestial objects that are 1600 times dimmer than Pluto. A second moon of the Earth

would have to have a diameter smaller than about 30 cm (1 ft) to escape detection by

Spacewatch.

Any moon orbiting around our Moon could not be further away from the Moon thanabout 35,000 km (22,000 mi), which is about 10 times the diameter of the Moon, because

orbits beyond that distance would be disturbed so much by the gravity of the Earth that

moons in such orbits would probably have escaped into space or fallen to the Moon or theEarth. (The "tidal boundary" between the Earth and the Moon lies about 35,000 km from

the Moon.)

The Moon has had artificial moons:satellites such as Clementine and the Lunar

Prospector that were sent from Earth into an orbit around the Moon to study the Moon. Itis possible that some of those artificialsatellites are still circling around the Moon,

though they are usually deliberately crashed into the Moon once their mission is

complete.

[437]
http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/reken/hemelpositie.html#maanhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/reken/hemelpositie.html#maanhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#moonshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/manen.html#moonshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=moonshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/manen.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/manen.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/boom/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/sterren.html#starshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=starshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=starshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/planeten.html#Plutohttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=secondhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=secondhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Plutohttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=numberhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/astronomen.html#astronomershttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/astronomen.html#astronomershttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/astronomen.html#astronomershttp://spacewatch.lpl.arizona.edu/scopes.htmlhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/planeten.html#Earthhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=plutohttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=plutohttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Earthhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/zwaartekracht.html#gravityhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/boom/maan.html#moonshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/zwaartekracht.html#tidal%20boundaryhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/manen.html#satelliteshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/manen.html#satelliteshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=lunarhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=satelliteshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=satelliteshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/reken/hemelpositie.html#maanhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#moonshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/manen.html#moonshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=moonshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/manen.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/boom/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/sterren.html#starshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=starshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/planeten.html#Plutohttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=secondhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Plutohttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=numberhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/astronomen.html#astronomershttp://spacewatch.lpl.arizona.edu/scopes.htmlhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/planeten.html#Earthhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=plutohttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Earthhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/zwaartekracht.html#gravityhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/boom/maan.html#moonshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/zwaartekracht.html#tidal%20boundaryhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/manen.html#satelliteshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=lunarhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=satellites


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3. The Moon Falls Towards But Not Onto The Earth

The Moonfalls around the Earth all thetime. If the Earth did not pull at the Moon, then

the Moonwould disappear into space, roughly along a straight line. The attractionbetween the Earth and theMoonpulls the Moon away from that straight line towards the

Earth (and likewise pulls the Earth from a straight line towards the Moon), but notenough to make the Moon fall down unto the Earth.

In other words: The Moon has a large sideways speed (not directed towards the Earth, butrather perpendicular to that direction), so when the Moon has fallen a bit towards the

Earth, then in the same time it has also moved sideways a bit, so that it is at about the

same distance from the Earth as before.

[404]

4. Daytime and Nighttime Moons

The Moonthat we sometimes see during the day is the very same Moon that wesometimes see at night. We can only ever see the same side of the Moon, whether we see

the Moonduring the day or during the night. The dark regions that one can see on the

Moon at night can also be seen during the day. The daytime Moon is almost equally

bright as the nighttime Moon of the preceding or following night. The Moon does notseem to be very bright during the day because we then compare it with the bright blue

sky, but the Moon does appear very bright at night because then the sky is very dark.

[389]

5. If the Moon Disappeared

If the Moondisappeared then the tides would reduce in strength by about two thirds.

There would still be tides, because theSuncausestides, too (see theConjunctions Page).

The Moonkeeps the anglebetween the rotation axis of the Earthand the plane of theorbit of the Earth within a fairly narrow range, so that the strength of theseasonscannot

differ too much from its current value. If the Moon disappeared, then the inclination of

the rotation axis of the Earth would vary much more over periods of thousands ofyearsand could get much further away from the upright position, with corresponding greater

differences between summerand winter, and hence with great influence on the climate,

such as Mars has experienced (without any largemoon). See

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1993Natur.361..615L,http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2002A%26A...384..689E and

http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0112399 (forhttp://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-

bib_query?bibcode=2001EM%26P...85...61B).

I've heard of kinds of animals that synchronize some rhythms of their lives with the

phases of the Moon, and the sudden disappearance of the Moon could cause trouble for
http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/planeten.html#Earthhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Earthhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/tijd.html#timehttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/tijd.html#timehttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/manen.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/boom/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/boom/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/boom/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#moonshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/manen.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/boom/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/getijden.html#tideshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=tideshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Sunhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Sunhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Sunhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/samenstand.html#tideshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/samenstand.html#tideshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/samenstand.html#tideshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/samenstand.html#betekenishttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/samenstand.html#betekenishttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/manen.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/manen.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=anglehttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=anglehttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/planeten.html#Earthhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/planeten.html#Earthhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Earthhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/seizoenen.html#seasonshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/seizoenen.html#seasonshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/seizoenen.html#seasonshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=inclinationhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/tijd.html#yearshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/seizoenen.html#summerhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/seizoenen.html#winterhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/planeten.html#Marshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/boom/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/boom/maan.html#moonhttp://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1993Natur.361..615Lhttp://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2002A%26A...384..689Ehttp://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0112399http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2001EM%26P...85...61Bhttp://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2001EM%26P...85...61Bhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/planeten.html#Earthhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Earthhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/tijd.html#timehttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/manen.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/boom/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#moonshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/manen.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/boom/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/getijden.html#tideshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=tideshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Sunhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/samenstand.html#tideshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/samenstand.html#betekenishttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/manen.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=anglehttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/planeten.html#Earthhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Earthhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/seizoenen.html#seasonshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=inclinationhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/tijd.html#yearshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/seizoenen.html#summerhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/seizoenen.html#winterhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/planeten.html#Marshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/boom/maan.html#moonhttp://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1993Natur.361..615Lhttp://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2002A%26A...384..689Ehttp://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0112399http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2001EM%26P...85...61Bhttp://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2001EM%26P...85...61B


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them. I believe I've heard of some kinds of turtles that come to lay their eggs on the beach

at a certain Full Moon, and that the nightlife of deer and similar animals takes the phase

of the Moon into account. In any case, fishermen and hunters seem to take the phase ofthe Moon into account, but perhaps that is because they would like to be able to see

something at night. I am not a biologist, fisherman, or hunter, so I do not know the details

of this.

It is highly unlikely that the Moon will just disappear. Only the very close passage of acelestial object of the size of aplanet could wrench the Moon from the grip of the Earth's

gravity, and such an event could also change the orbit of the Earth itself markedly, so

then the disappearance of the Moon might not be the most important thing. Calculationsof the future of the orbits of theplanets show that such an event will not happen during

the coming thousands of millions ofyears(at least not with one of the otherplanetsof

ourSolarSystem as the disturbing object). See http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2002MNRAS.336..483I and http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-

bib_query?bibcode=1996CeMDA..64..115L.

[382]

6. The Influence of the Moon

There are people who claim that theMoonor the phase of the Moon (full moon,new

moon) has influence on all kinds of things where you would not immediately expect such

influence, such as the birth dates of children, or how much luck you have, or the weather.Is that true? Sometimes these people suggest that this influence comes from special lunar

forces that science doesn't know or does not want to know. Can that be true?

6.1. Direct Influence by the Moon

The only direct influence that theMoonhas on Earthis through its gravity and itslight.

The gravity of the Moon causes part of thetideson Earth. The direct influence of thegravity of the Moonon people is much smaller than the influence of the gravity of earthly

things that are much closer, such as houses and cars and other people, and that influence

is already so small that you don't notice it. (See theConjunctions Page for more

information about this.) Moonlight is reflected sunlight and allows us to see bettersometimes at night, though we are much less dependent on moonlight these days, with all

of our streetlights and lamps in our homes.

6.2. Indirect Influence by the Moon

These direct influences yield indirect influences. Withouttides, there would be no tidal

areas such as the Waddenzee on the coast of the Netherlands, with the related plants and

animals and tidal power stations. Many animals prefer to look for food at night when theMoon is shining. The full moon at harvest timewas called the HarvestMoonbecause

people could continue to harvest aftersunset by thelight of thatmoon. However, for all
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of these things it is not important that it is the Moon that provides the tides or the light,

but only that there issomethingthat provides tides or light.

If something depends directly or indirectly on the Moon, then all things that depend onthat first thing can themselves start depending on the Moon. If the farmer can keep

harvesting for longer by the light of the full moon, then he'll probably sleep less thanusual afterwards, so he'll be more sleepy the next day than usual. That means there's a

connection between the phase of the Moon and the sleepiness of the farmer, even thoughno special sleepiness rays come from the Moon to affect farmer's brains. That sleepy

farmer may not feel like playing his usual card game with the neighbors the next day, so

then there is a connection between the lunarphase and the playing of card games. Theneighbors may have seen this coming, and may have decided not to bake the cake that

they usually eat while playing cards, so now there's a connection between the lunar phase

and the sale of cake ingredients. In this way, very indirect connections can arise betweenthings of which you would not expect this at first sight.

The problem with such indirect connections is that it is often almost impossible todetermine where they came from. If you notice that there is a connection between the

lunar phase and the sale of sugar in a particular village, then you may not immediatelyrealize the importance of the card game buddies of a farmer in harvest time, especially

because one can think of many other equally indirect ways in which there may be a

connection between the phase of the Moon and the sale of sugar in the village, andperhaps all of them are important.

6.3. Correlation with the Lunar Phase

If someone claims that there is a connection between something and the phase of the

Moon, then you should ask the following questions:

How certain is it that the claimed correlation really exists?

No source is given for many of these stories, so it is almost impossible to

determine if the story is based on solid research, or if someone just made it up.

Besides, if you compare two things that both vary with time but that have

absolutely nothing to do with each other, then they'll still occasionally go up or

down or appear to be connected in some other way, purely by chance. If you

happen to study those things during such a period, then you could conclude that

they are connected, even when they aren't.

In addition, people tend to remember or pass stories on to others much more

easily if the stories are about strange or unexpected things or if the stories agree

with ideas that the people already had. For example, if a hundred researchersstudy the connection between the color of babies' eyes and the lunarphase at their

birth (to name something for which a connection seems unlikely), and if they use

a test that is 99% accurate, then probably one out of the one hundred researchers
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will by accident get data from which he concludes that there is a connection, even

if there really is no such connection and even if all researchers work accurately

and honestly. If all researchers publish their results independently, then the resultsof the one researcher that found the strange connection are likely to get much

more interest than the results of the 99 researchers that didn't find anything

special. It is therefore much more likely that you'll hear about the one study thatfound something strange than that you'll hear about the 99 other studies that didn't

find anything unusual.

How much of the variation is explained by thelunarphase?

Even if a scientifically thorough study shows that there is some correlation

between something and the lunar phase, then that doesn't mean that this is at alluseful in practice. For example, if 90% of the variation in temperatureduring a

month were explained by the lunar phase, then you could make a pretty

reasonable prediction of thetemperatures for the coming month from the expected

lunar phases during that time, with only 10% oftemperaturevariation due to otherthings. If instead only 0.1% of the variation in temperature is correlated with the

lunar phase, then knowing the lunar phase does not help you at all in predictingtemperatures, because then 99.9% of the variation is not connected with the lunar

phase.

People should always mention how much of the natural variation in the

investigated thing can be explained from the lunar phase. Any found connection isonly useful if you can explain a large fraction of the variation from the lunar

phase.

Because of the innumerable indirect connections in nature and between humanactions and affairs, it is likely that almost anything is somehow connected withthe phase of the Moon, so if you can do a sufficiently big statistical investigation,

then you can detect lunar influence in almost everything, but in almost all cases

the influence of the lunar phase is so incredibly small that it is of no use at all inpractice.

6.4. The Phase of theMoon Might Have Influence on...

[195]

6.4.1. ... Insomnia

It is possible that people sleep worse atfull moon, because of the extra lightthat is thenaround at night. It is not important that the extra light comes from the Moon; if instead a

bright lamp shone into the bedroom that appeared as bright as the full moon, then you'd

have the same trouble to sleep. Thicker curtains and better closing of the gaps through

which light can still enter the bedroom might help.
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6.5. The Phase of theMoon Can Have a Tiny Effect on...

[53][445]

6.5.1. ... the Weather

Some people think that the weather is related to the phase of the Moon. For example, thatthere is a greater chance of frost at Full Moon than at other phases of the Moon. Any such

relationships are at best very weak, because the weather can be very different from place

to place, while everyone has the same phase of theMoonat the same moment, and the

weather can be very different from day to day or even from hourto hour while the phaseof the Moonchanges only slowly. I think it is fair to say that there is no correspondence

between the phase of the Moon and the weather that you could use to measurably

improve weather predictions.

Perhaps the idea that a Full Moon gives a greater chance for frost is derived from theobservation that if there is frost and if you can then see the Moon, then there is a greater

than average chance that that Moon will be full. That correlation is easy to understand:

Frost occurs most often in winter. In winter, the Full Moon is longer above the horizonthan the other phases of the Moon are, because the Full Moon is always exactly opposite

the Sun in the sky, and the Sun is less visible in winter. So, in winter there is a greater

than average chance to get frost and also a greater than average chance to see a FullMoon. "Seeing more Full Moon" and "experiencing more frost" go together. However,

not every correlation is a causation. In other words: that two things go up or down

together doesn't mean that one of them must be causing the other. In this case, both thingsare caused by the season. If you don't care aboutseeinga Full Moon but only about it

beinga Full Moon, then the chances for each phase of the Moon are equal also in winter,

and then there turns out to be no useful correlation between the phase of the Moon and

the weather.

The weather and weather-related events (such as crop losses because of unexpected early

frosts) have been recorded for a very long timealready, and the phase of the Moon can be

calculated for any date, so if any useful correlations exist between the phase of the Moon

and some aspect of the weather, then it should not be difficult to find it. Yet, I have notheard of any such useful correlations, so I must assume that none have been found. (See

below for my own research into the connection between the Moon and thetemperature.)

If studies have found no correlation between the phase of the Moon and the occurrence offrost, then any direct or indirect effects of the Moon on frost must be so small as to be of

only academic interest (if even that). This won't change, no matter how much we discusspotential sources of such effects. If we discovered a potential source that ought to have

sufficient effect to be clearly noticeable, then we would have to conclude that there mustbe some other effect to counteract the first one, if the observations tell us that the net

effect of all known and unknown contributions is too small to measure.

Notwithstanding the merely academic interest, we can still discuss the heat reaching the

Earth from the Moon. Heat loss through thermal radiation is proportional to the fourth
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power of the temperature (relative to the absolute zero point of temperature; e.g.,

measured in kelvin) at the locations from where the radiation escapes. (This is expressed

by the Stefan-Boltzmann Law, see, e.g., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan-Boltzmann_law.)

So, if an object attains room temperature (290K) in sunlight, then its heat loss isproportional to 290 = 290*290*290*290 = 7073 million units, so its heat gain through

sunlight must be similar to that number. The brightness of the Full Moon is about onepart in half a million of the brightness of the Sun, so the heat gain through moonlight

would be about 7073 million units divided by half a million, or about 14,000 units.

Adding these 14,000 units to the 7073 million units leads to a rise in the temperature of at

most about 0.00015 kelvin (because the fourth power of 290.00015 is about 14,000 unitsmore than the fourth power of 290), which corresponds to about 0.00027degrees

Fahrenheit. I expect such an increase to be completely negligible.

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?2001EM%26P...85...99C says that any

temperature effects with a roughly monthly cycle are more likely associated with solaractivity (the Sun rotates in about a month) than with heating by the Moon. In other words,

effects from solar activity are greater than effects from the Moon, and solar activity is not

tied to the phase of the Moon.

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1999GeoRL..26.1605C says

that there is on average a 0.1degreeCelsius greater daily surface temperature range

(difference between maximum and minimum temperature) nearfull moonthan nearnew

moon, which is mostly caused by higher maximum surface temperatures near full moon,which are themselves attributed to the Earthbeing slightly closer to the Sun at Full Moon

than at New Moon (because of the gravityof the Moon).

But once more, all of this talk is academic if no useful correlation is actually found to

exist between the phase of the Moon and the occurrence of frost (or any othercharacteristic of the weather).

6.6. The Phase of theMoon has no Influence on...

If below I write that the phase of theMoonhas no influence on something, then I mean

that there is at most a (highly) indirect connection between the phase of the Moon and

that thing, and that in practice knowledge of thelunarphase provides no useful advantage

in predicting that thing.

[79]

6.6.1. ... the Gender of Children

The gender of a child is determined by coincidence, with an almost equal chance for a

girl as for a boy. There is no connection between the gender of a child and the phase ofthe Moonduring conception or birth of that child, or between the equality or inequality of

the genders of two successive children in the same family and the phase of the Moon
http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=temperaturehttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/temperatuur.html#kelvinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan-Boltzmann_lawhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan-Boltzmann_lawhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Khttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Khttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=numberhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/zonpositie.html#sunhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=kelvinhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=degreeshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=degreeshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Fahrenheithttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Fahrenheithttp://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?2001EM%26P...85...99Chttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=solarhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=sunhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/kalenders.html#monthhttp://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1999GeoRL..26.1605Chttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=degreehttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=degreehttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Celsiushttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Celsiushttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=full%20moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=full%20moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=new%20moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=new%20moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=new%20moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=temperatureshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Earthhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Earthhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/zwaartekracht.html#gravityhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/zwaartekracht.html#gravityhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/manen.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=lunarhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=lunarhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=lunarhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=temperaturehttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/temperatuur.html#kelvinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan-Boltzmann_lawhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan-Boltzmann_lawhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Khttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=numberhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/zonpositie.html#sunhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=kelvinhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=degreeshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Fahrenheithttp://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?2001EM%26P...85...99Chttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=solarhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=sunhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/kalenders.html#monthhttp://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1999GeoRL..26.1605Chttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=degreehttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Celsiushttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=full%20moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=new%20moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=new%20moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=temperatureshttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Earthhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/zwaartekracht.html#gravityhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/manen.html#moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=lunarhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/cgi-bin/glossary.cgi?l=en&o=Moonhttp://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#moon


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during the birth of the first or the second child, or any other combination of phases of the

Moon and children. At least, such connections have never been proven scientifically, and

according to modern science such connections are not expected.

[182]

6.6.2. ... the Birth Date of Children

It is claimed that more babies are born nearfull moon, but that claim is scientifically

controversial. According to an article in theBrazilian Journal of Medical and Biological

Research from 2002 there are about as many investigations that have found evidence for

such a link as investigations that have not found evidence for such a link. That means that

the effect, if it exists at all, is so small that it is hard to measure, and therefore notimportant in practice.

The lunarphase is not mentioned in the methods that I've seen for calculating the

expected date of birth. At http://www.9maanden.com/zwanger/zwanger/zpm.php (in

Dutch), for example, it is explained that you should add 40 weeks to the first day of thelast period of the woman before the pregnancy. The full moonis not taken into account.

If there were any correspondence between daily birth counts and the lunar phases, then I

would not ascribe that to any force of nature associated with the Moon, but rather to a

psychological effect.

In some societies the lunar phase at birth is seen as an important clue to the future of the

child. For example, the full moon may be thought to have go

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