13 full moon facts to brag about

The moon has been with us since ancient times. It has always had an attractive effect on humanity. Especially on nights with a full moon, the silver-colored ball in the starry sky enchants again and again.

But what do we know about the moon? Why does it always glow differently? Does he keep us awake? Does it have other effects? We explain to you.

When we look up at the satellite, it appears very small. In fact, at 3,474 kilometers in diameter, it is almost a quarter the size of the Earth with a diameter of 12,742 kilometers. Compared to the sun, which has a diameter of 1,392,700 kilometers, the moon, like our planet, is small.

The moon does not shine by itself, just like the earth, half of it is always illuminated by the sun. Whether we see a crescent, a full moon, or just a crescent from here depends on how the moon relates to the sun and the earth.

When it is perpendicular to the sun, we see a crescent moon. When the moon and sun are opposite each other—that is, when the sun, Earth, and moon are aligned—depending on where you are, you can see a fully lit sphere in the sky.

The lunar cycle, also called lunation, is the period of time from one new moon to another. During this time we see constantly changing light figures. We distinguish:

By the way: If you sometimes wonder what phase the moon is in when you look at the sky, there’s a “trick” for you: you have to imagine the “curved” handwriting you learned in school. When the moon wanes, a small letter “a” follows – the bulge is on the left. As it increases, it follows a small “z” – with a bulge to the right.

The moon has no fixed place. He is always on the move. Just like the earth. But there is a big difference. The earth revolves around the sun in one year. 365 days, 5 hours, 48 ​​minutes and 46 seconds to be exact. However, Earth’s satellite does not take a year to orbit our planet, but only 27 days, 7 hours and 43.7 minutes. So about a month.

Due to the constant movement of the moon, we are constantly seeing other facets of the moon and its light.

A full moon is called a supermoon if it is very close to Earth. Since the 1970s, there has been a supermoon when the distance between the moon and Earth is less than 367,600 kilometers.

According to the US space agency NASA, its small distance makes the supermoon appear about 17 percent larger and its light shines even up to 30 percent brighter compared to the full moon, which is farthest away.

As a rule, a supermoon can be admired three to four times a year – and always in the following months. On August 12, 2022, this was the case for the fourth time in a row this year. At a distance of only 357,418 kilometers, the full moon came closest to Earth in July.

Since the Moon does not revolve around the Earth in a perfect circle but in an elliptical orbit, it can be either near or far from Earth. If it happens that the moon is in the full moon and at the same time at perigee (the point closest to the earth), it is popularly called a super moon.

At perigee, the moon is on average about 363,300 kilometers away. At its greatest distance, the so-called apogee, this distance increases to an average of 405,500.

The moon is largely responsible for ebb and flow. This effect is related to gravity. The moon attracts the water. But because the earth is a lot bigger, it doesn’t attract the amount of water, but that at the ends. Here, the Earth’s gravity does not pull the water in the opposite direction. This is what it looks like:

The water is not directly attracted to the moon, but collects on the side facing the moon and away from it. This creates high tides in these areas of the earth and low tides at the ends. Because this creates two high tide peaks (one on the other side and one on the other), there are usually two tides per day.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is between the moon and the sun and the shadow of the globe completely covers the moon. This phenomenon is relatively common, but not always visible from all parts of the world. There are at least two lunar eclipses a year.

The next lunar eclipse is on November 8, it will be a total lunar eclipse. Unfortunately not visible from Switzerland. The next lunar eclipse that can be observed from Switzerland will take place on May 5, 2023. This is a penumbral lunar eclipse, in which the entire moon – unlike the total or partial solar eclipse – is still slightly illuminated by direct sunlight.

The moon not only revolves around the Earth, but also around itself – in a so-called bound rotation. This means that it always faces the same side of the Earth and we only see this side of the Moon from Earth. So we never see the other side of the moon. On the other hand, we see dark lowlands, so-called mares, on the lunar surface. Some people interpret different figures from the lowlands.

An example is the rabbit. Others think they can see a face in the moon. Depending on where we are, the moon is different than we know from Switzerland. In the southern hemisphere, seen from us, it is upside down. Instead of a rabbit, the local residents see a woman with firewood on her back.

For us, the tasks of the moon and the sun are clearly divided: the sun shines during the day and the moon shines at night. But that’s not quite true. Sometimes the moon can also be seen in the sky during the day. Does the same apply to the full moon? Unfortunately not. The full moon is not based on whether it is day or night with us.

The astronomical event occurs when the sun, earth and moon are aligned in space. Exactly in that order. The earth then stands between these two heavenly bodies. At this time, it is night in the hemisphere away from the sun and the full moon can be seen from there. It’s still day on the other side of the hemisphere. You can’t see the full moon there because it’s hiding behind the Earth. This explains why the lunar calendar sometimes states that the full moon falls in the middle of the day.

Many people complain that the full moon deprives them of sleep. But is the moon really responsible for poor and restless sleep?

In 2013, Swiss researchers tried to find out the effect of the full moon on a group of subjects in a sleep lab. The subjects took an average of 5 minutes longer to fall asleep. In addition, the duration of sleep and the deep sleep phase were shorter than usual, but the study has some weaknesses, which the researchers themselves later acknowledged. Only 33 people were tested and the number of full moon nights studied was very small. Further studies could not find a connection between human sleep and the phases of the moon.

It is known that light influences our sleep rhythm. So it may be that the bright full moon is the reason for easier sleep. An argument that might refute this: The three nights around the night of the full moon are twelve times brighter than the crescent.

The menstrual cycle lasts an average of 28 days, almost as long as the moon orbits the Earth. Is this a coincidence? Yes, according to a 2019 study that looked at the cycles of 1.5 million women who had not used hormonal contraception. No evidence has been found that there is a connection between the phases of the moon and menstruation.

However, the length of the menstrual cycle can vary based on age and ethnic background. In addition, the length of the menstrual cycle varies in animals, so in humans it just seems to be a coincidence.

Full moon and howling wolves – in the movies they often belong together. But do the animals really howl at full moon?

no. Howling is the language of wolves, so they make contact with their own kind and summon them to hunt. Because the wolves mainly hunt at dusk, you can hear them mainly at night. While it seems as if they are crying their heads to the moon. In fact, they do it to get a better reach.

You can find the full moon calendar of the year and associated names of the Algonquin, a North American Native American tribe, here: