The gravity of the Sun also pulls Earth’s water towards it and causes its own tides. Because the sun is so far away, its pull is smaller than the Moon’s. When the Sun and Moon are in line, during the new moon and the full moon, their high tides add up and create a spring tide.

When the sun and the moon are aligned, or nearly aligned, their gravitational gradient fields add together constructively, leading to extra strong tides (high tide is extra high and low tide is extra low). This alignment happens when the moon is a new moon or a full moon, which occurs about every two weeks.

Tides and the Moon The Moon affects the tides because of gravity. You will have noticed that every time you jump, you always land back on the ground. This is because the Earth’s gravity is pulling you back down. The Moon has gravity of its own, which pulls the oceans (and us) towards it.

According to Tom, there are three main ways in which the Moon impacts on life: time, tides and light. ‘For many animals, particularly birds, the Moon is essential to migration and navigation. Other will time their reproduction to coincide with the specific phases of the lunar cycle. ‘

A blue-colored moon is more rare and can indicate a moon seen through an atmosphere carrying larger dust particles. What created the purple moon is unclear — it may be a combination of several effects. The next full moon will occur at the end of this month (moon-th) and is known in some cultures as the Beaver Moon.

The next monthly “Blue Moon” is this coming Saturday, but the next seasonal “Blue Moon” is on August 22, 2021. The next time there will be both types of “Blue Moons” in the same year will be in 2037.

Native Americans and Medieval Europeans called this moon a Wolf Moon, it’s thought to be because wolves howled more at this time of year as there was less food. The snowy weather of February in North America led to the name Snow Moon.