Bay Area Moon Day

Fifty-four years ago, America breathed a sigh of relief and sounded countless cheers. Moon Day celebrates the first Moon landing on July 20, 1969. In the following years, we sent ten more people to the Moon, created the International Space Station, and landed several drones on Mars. While our sights for space travel have been set much farther than the Moon, it still lights up our nights. 

This week, the Moon phase will be in the “last quarter” phase, better known as a Half Moon. Take the opportunity and venture out to Half Moon Bay to watch the Moon at work, moving oceans and glittering in the tides. While the view of the Moon and stars in Half Moon Bay is breathtaking, the name of the Bay comes from its crescent shape.

As the Moon rotates around us, the tide changes with it, pulling the water out of the Bay and back in every day. The Earth, Sun, and Moon line up twice a month during Full and New Moons. Their gravitational power combines to make exceptionally high tides, called spring tides. A week later, when the Sun and Moon are at right angles to each other during the Half Moon, the Sun’s gravitational pull works against the Moon’s gravitational pull, creating the lower tides called neap tides.

This exchange between the Earth and Moon slowly transfers energy to the Moon, pushing it one inch farther away each year. While the Moon moves further away, that is one inch added to the 238,900 miles between the Earth and Moon. If we crossed the Bay Bridge 53,548 times or 140,451 times across the Golden Gate Bridge, that would be the equivalent distance to get to the Moon. Now add an inch and see if that makes it that much farther. 

Celebrate Moon Day with a late-night picnic or just a big smile for the eye in the night sky; give our thanks to the Moon, moving oceans, the Bay, and our hearts. Every year it moves precisely one inch away from us, but tonight we keep it close in our thoughts.