10/23/2026
Fun Fact Friday: The Moon!
🌕October is the time for monsters, ghosts, and all things spooky. And featured in many of these stories is the moon.
🐺Since at least the 14th century, the moon has been rumored to make people act strange and even completely lose their minds. The word ‘lunatic’ comes from the Latin ‘lunaticas,’ or moon-struck, although the link between werewolves and moonlight only came about in the last century.
🌗Perhaps the moon’s role in many scary myths is due to the ominous shadows cast by its silver light or the way it seems to slowly appear and disappear across its cycle, but the moon has long been central to human civilizations.
🌖The moon goes through a 29.5-day cycle, with 0-100% of its surface illuminated by the sun. Ancient Egyptians were some of the first known people to use the moon’s cycle to measure time, dividing the year into 12 “months” of 30 days each, with five to spare.
🌊Each day, the gravitational pull of the moon results in two high tides: when the moon faces that side of the Earth and when the moon is on the opposite side.
🌜Each lunar cycle, during a new and full moon, the moon, Earth, and sun are aligned, resulting in higher tides due to increased gravitational pull. This highest high tide is called a spring tide, while the lowest low tide is called a neap tide. The strength of these tides are further affected by whether the moon is at a point in orbit closer (closest=perigee) or farther (farthest=apogee) from the Earth.
🌝Regardless of whether you believe the moon’s cycles affect behavior, you can still enjoy howling at our next full moon on October 26.
🎃Happy Halloween!
📷Photo Credits: Partial Lunar Eclipse, submitted by Davenport resident, August 28, 2026
