Effects of the Moon
Each claim, with the state of the evidence.
Established
Ocean tides
The Moon raises the tides, helped by the Sun.
EstablishedThe Moon is moving away
About 3.8 cm a year, measured by laser.
EstablishedLonger days
Tidal braking lengthens the day, a little.
EstablishedA steadier axis
Established in principle; how much it matters is debated.
DebatedEarthquakes and tides
A statistical hint, not a forecast.
EstablishedAnimals that follow the Moon
Corals, worms and beetles, among others.
DebatedSleep
Some studies find shorter sleep near full moon, others nothing.
DebatedThe menstrual cycle
Intermittent synchrony in long records, weaker since 2010.
RefutedMore births at full moon
Millions of births, no lunar rhythm.
RefutedBusy emergency rooms at full moon
A lasting belief that the data do not support.
Research
Key articles, chosen by hand, shelf by shelf.
The big picture
Where lunar science stands today.
Where the Moon comes from
A giant impact, and the isotopes that test it.
- Origin of the Moon
- Origin of the Moon in a giant impact near the end of the Earth's formation
- Forming a Moon with an Earth-like Composition via a Giant Impact
- Making the Moon from a Fast-Spinning Earth: A Giant Impact Followed by Resonant Despinning
- The proto-Earth as a significant source of lunar material
Water
From a dry Moon to ice in the polar shadows.
- Volatile interactions with the lunar surface
- Volatile content of lunar volcanic glasses and the presence of water in the Moon’s interior
- Character and Spatial Distribution of OH/H2O on the Surface of the Moon Seen by M3 on Chandrayaan-1
- Detection of Water in the LCROSS Ejecta Plume
- High Pre-Eruptive Water Contents Preserved in Lunar Melt Inclusions
- Direct evidence of surface exposed water ice in the lunar polar regions
- Micro cold traps on the Moon
- Molecular water detected on the sunlit Moon by SOFIA
Chang’e samples
Young lavas from Chang’e-5, and the first rocks from the far side.
- Age and composition of young basalts on the Moon, measured from samples returned by Chang’e-5
- Two-billion-year-old volcanism on the Moon from Chang’e-5 basalts
- A sample of the Moon’s far side retrieved by Chang’e-6 contains 2.83-billion-year-old basalt
- Lunar farside volcanism 2.8 billion years ago from Chang’e-6 basalts
Moonquakes
What Apollo’s seismometers tell us about the inside.
Behind the effects
The studies cited by the effects above.
- Much ado about the full moon: A meta-analysis of lunar-lunacy research
- Lunar Laser Ranging: A Continuing Legacy of the Apollo Program
- Geological constraints on the Precambrian history of Earth's rotation and the Moon's orbit
- No Evidence of Purported Lunar Effect on Hospital Admission Rates or Birth Rates
- On the relation of the lunar recession and the length-of-the-day
- Mass Spawning in Tropical Reef Corals
- Stabilization of the Earth's obliquity by the Moon
- Insect orientation to polarized moonlight
- The effect of the lunar cycle on frequency of births and birth complications
- Lunar cycle and the number of births: A spectral analysis of 4,071,669 births from South‐Western Germany
- Obliquity variations of a moonless Earth
- Evidence that the Lunar Cycle Influences Human Sleep
- Circadian and Circalunar Clock Interactions in a Marine Annelid
- Reply to Cordi et al.
- Lunar cycle effects on sleep and the file drawer problem
- Human sleep and cortical reactivity are influenced by lunar phase
- Effects of lunar phase on sleep in men and women in Surrey
- Signaling cascades and the importance of moonlight in coral broadcast mass spawning
- Earthquake potential revealed by tidal influence on earthquake size–frequency statistics
- Measurement of the Earth's rotation: 720 BC to AD2015
- Secular tidal changes in lunar orbit and Earth rotation
- Moonstruck sleep: Synchronization of human sleep with the moon cycle under field conditions
- Women temporarily synchronize their menstrual cycles with the luminance and gravimetric cycles of the Moon
- Moonrise timing is key for synchronized spawning in coral Dipsastraea speciosa
- Moonlit Misconceptions: A South Florida Veterans’ Hospital Perspective on Full Moon Emergency Room Visits
- Synchronization of women’s menstruation with the Moon has decreased but remains detectable when gravitational pull is strong