What happens when the Sun Earth and Moon line up (in that order)? Do people (or animals) get crazy? Commit more crimes? The Moon always shows us the same face, but there’s only one instant when the Moon is truly.
Credit: Space.com / produced and edited by Steve Spaleta & David Sky Brody
Credit: Space.com / produced and edited by Steve Spaleta & David Sky Brody
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00:00A full moon shows up to Earthly viewers when the Moon's orbit takes it around to the point where Sun, Earth and Moon line up.
00:10And the onrushing sunlight fully splashes the Earth-facing face of the Moon.
00:15But does that cause any special weirdness here on Earth?
00:30The full Moon is more than just a passing phase. During the full Moon, and also at the completely dark New Moon phase, gravity of the nearby Moon lines up in phase with gravity of the far away but hugely massive Sun to cause higher tides in Earth's oceans.
00:46Now, could all that crazy gravity slosh around the liquids inside our living bodies, and what could happen if they did?
00:53Well, people have long speculated, but turns out the idea that exposure to the full Moon causes insanity is, well, just sheer lunacy.
01:02Study after study has found no statistical correlation between observed psychotic episodes, or crime statistics, or animal bites.
01:10Really, you're not any more likely to hideously mutate into your werewolf form on the night of the full Moon than you are on any other night.
01:17Some species of real wolves do seem to like to howl at the full Moon, but researchers are not quite sure yet just why.
01:27Buddhism teaches that all full Moon days are holy.
01:32Judaism marks at least three significant yearly holidays by the full Moon.
01:37And many cultures around the Earth give a pet name to each passing full Moon.
01:42Black Moon, Oak Moon, Milk Moon, Pink Moon, Hay Moon, Green Moon, Old Moon, Cold Moon, Egg Moon.
01:52And once in a blue Moon, we get two full Moons in a month, which is really just a trick of the calendar we picked.
01:57With the Moon, the Earth, and even the Sun constantly in motion, there is actually only one infinitely short instant when the Moon is truly full.
02:07With the moon, the earth, and even the sun constantly in motion, there's actually only
02:17one infinitely short instant when the moon is truly full.
02:22At that one moment, the far side of the moon actually is the dark side of the moon.
02:27And finally, here's a tip. The full moon is the very worst time to observe the moon.
02:39The harsh lighting is too bright and too flat to show you the true beauty of Earth's magnificent natural satellite.
02:48So that's the full moon. This is your 2-Minute Universe, and I'm Dave Brody.
02:57Space.com