How the Moon Affects Your Life: Amazing Facts About Our Closest Neighbor

The Moon's gravity is the main driver of Earth's ocean tides, pulling water into a bulge that creates high and low tides roughly twice a day.

The Sun also tugs on Earth's oceans, but its tidal pull is only about 46% as strong as the Moon's because the Sun is so much farther away.

The Moon's gravity helps stabilize Earth's axial tilt of about 23.5 degrees, which keeps our seasons relatively steady and predictable.

Astronomers estimate that without the Moon's stabilizing pull, Earth's tilt could wobble far more dramatically over millions of years, which could lead to more extreme long-term climate swings.

Some plants, like moonflowers, are simply adapted to bloom at night rather than responding to a specific lunar cycle.

Certain coral species times mass spawning events to specific moon phases, typically releasing eggs and sperm together a few nights after a full moon.

Some nocturnal predators, such as owls, hunt more effectively on brighter moonlit nights, while prey like rodents and crabs often reduce activity to avoid being spotted.

Research suggests some migratory birds may use moonlight as one of several navigation cues, alongside stars and Earth's magnetic field, during nighttime flights.

Despite the popular belief in a "lunar effect," large scientific reviews have found no reliable link between the full moon and human sleep, mood, crime rates, or hospital admissions.

The word "lunatic" comes from the Latin "lunaticus," reflecting an ancient belief — since disproven by modern science — that the Moon caused madness.

The Moon has inspired countless works of art, including Vincent van Gogh's "Starry Night Over the Rhone" and Pink Floyd's album "The Dark Side of the Moon."

The Soviet Luna 2 probe became the first human-made object to reach the Moon in 1959.

Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969.

In total, only 12 people have ever walked on the Moon, all during NASA's Apollo missions between 1969 and 1972.

In January 2019, China's Chang'e 4 mission became the first spacecraft to achieve a soft landing on the far side of the Moon.

A lunar eclipse happens when Earth passes between the Sun and Moon, sometimes turning the Moon a reddish color known as a "Blood Moon."

A solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, briefly blocking sunlight and, during a total eclipse, revealing the Sun's outer atmosphere, or corona.

Unlike Earth's large iron core, the Moon has a surprisingly small core relative to its overall size, and scientists are still studying exactly what it's made of.

The Moon experiences moonquakes, tremors caused by tidal stresses from Earth's gravity and by meteorite impacts.

Orbiting spacecraft have detected "mascons," dense regions beneath the lunar surface that create small local variations in gravity.