Does the supermoon affect people's lives?

The term “supermoon” refers to a new or full moon that occurs around the same time the moon is closest to Earth in its monthly orbit. In fact, there will be four full supermoons in a row in 2024. We've already had the first of them, the seasonal blue supermoon. It happened on August 19. The next supermoon it will be September 18th already – The September supermoon is often called the “harvest moon”.

But sometimes people ask: does the supermoon have some kind of super effect on us?

Are we more attracted to each other during a supermoon?

Here is an important question for this discussion.

Does the Moon's gravitational pull change with distance? The answer is, of course it does. The Moon pulls the Earth the least when it is furthest away in its orbit (at apogee, or the point farthest from the planet). And it pulls the Earth the strongest when it is closest to us (perigee).

But does this increased gravity matter to us humans? The answer is… no, it doesn't.

Here's why. Gravity depends on two things. It depends directly on the masses of the two objects that are gravitationally attracted. And it depends inversely on the distance between the two objects.

So… “inversely proportional to the distance between.” This means what we talked about at the beginning of this section. The Moon is most strongly attracted to the Earth when it is closest to us. And it is least attracted when it is farthest away.

But… “directly depends on the masses of the two gravitationally attracted objects.” The more massive the object, the stronger the gravitational attraction. The Earth and the Moon are very massive. Therefore, they exert a strong gravitational attraction on each other.

This is why the approach of the Moon can cause particularly strong ocean tides. Earth's oceans are also very massive.

Are you very massive? No. Not compared to the Earth's oceans. Let's take the average person weighing 80 kilograms. The maximum difference in weight between the near and distant Moon for a person is about 73 milligrams. And that's about 1/14 the mass of an ordinary paper clip.

If you include the effect of solar gravity for a supermoon or the full moon closest to Earth, that effect can increase to 110 milligrams. That's about 1/9 the mass of a paper clip.

In any case, the effect is unnoticeable and much less than in other everyday situations, such as being near a mountain or even a large building.

Strong tides can be expected around the supermoon.

But you may notice, as I said before, that a very close full moon causes higher than normal perigee tides. The situation with tides is radically different from the situation with humans. Tides are caused by something called the differential gravitational effect. Specifically, the force of gravity acting on the part of the Earth opposite the Moon (the far side of the Earth as seen from the Moon) is at any given time slightly less than the force of gravity acting on the part of the Earth directly beneath the Moon (the near side of the Earth as seen from the Moon).

Why? Because there is an extra distance from one side of the Earth to the other – about 13,000 km. The force of gravity weakens rapidly with increasing distance, creating a difference.

#The Earth is tougher than the oceans

As a result of this differential gravitational effect of the Moon, our planet is slightly stretched along the line between the Earth and the Moon. The planet is quite rigid, so it does not stretch much. However, the oceans move much more easily. Thus, under the influence of this effect, water accumulates on both sides of the Earth. These accumulations of water, created by the differential gravitational effect, are the tides. Note that on average, the tidal effect is quite small. It raises the water level by several meters on the planet Earth with a diameter of 12,700 km.

Technically, the same effect is happening to your body, since one side is farther from the Moon than the other. However, the difference in distance is on the order of a third of a meter, not thousands of miles. So the difference is millions of times smaller, and the effect on the human body is infinitesimally small and insignificant.

Supermoons attract a lot of attention

Supermoons are important because they draw attention to the moon and the sky in general. But the point is that any physical effects of supermoons are not super important. There is no reasonable evidence that they cause “super disasters.” The effects that people can attribute to them are more psychological than physical.

Can you notice the difference in the sizes of supermoons?

Does the change in distance to the Moon make it appear smaller and larger to us? In reality, a full supermoon can appear 14% larger and 30% brighter to our eyes than at its minimum size and brightness.

However, these changes do not occur suddenly from month to month. So, without anything to compare them to, changes in the size and brightness of the Moon are difficult to assess simply by observation. To notice the difference, you need to see the apogee (smallest) full moon and the perigee (largest) full moon next to each other.

For most of us, this is only possible with a photograph or some form of direct measurement. However, some careful observers claim to be able to determine the supermoon's extra-large size by eye.

Where does the term “supermoon” come from?

The term “supermoon” was coined by an astrologer, not an astronomer, and has only recently come into widespread use. It is an example of modern folklore, largely accepted and disseminated by a now global community through word of mouth and the Internet.

In astronomy and other sciences, a related term, perigee tides, refers to the high tides that can occur when a new or full moon coincides with the perigee of a month, as is often the case. Simply put, a very close new or full moon causes higher-than-normal perigee tides.

Bottom line: Sure, the Moon (and the Sun) create tides. And a very close Moon can create higher-than-normal tides. But that doesn't mean that a super-close New Moon or Full Moon — a Supermoon — has an effect on you. In fact, the effect of a Supermoon is subtle and much less noticeable than in other everyday situations, like being near a mountain or a large building. But of course, a beautiful, bright Full Supermoon will draw your gaze skyward.