What caused the moon wobble?

What caused the moon wobble?

What is a ‘moon wobble’? Unlike the Chandler Wobble, which describes the movements in the Earth’s orbit, a moon wobble describes the fluctuations in the moon’s orbit – with wobbles occurring as a result of changes in the moon’s elliptical orbit and their resulting gravitational pull on the Earth.

How does the moon affect floods?

How does the Moon’s cycle affect flooding? The Moon’s gravitational pull causes the low and high tides each day here on Earth because the oceans bulge on the moon-side. However, the Moon has an 18.6-year cycle during which its “wobbling” position suppresses high tides for one half and amplifies them for the other half.

What’s a moon wobble?

“Moon wobble, or sometimes we, in astronomy, like to call moon libration is basically the natural tilt and wobble of the moon because it rotates on its axis like the earth does.” -Michelle Risse, the Scobee Planetarium Coordinator at San Antonio College.

What causes tidal flooding?

While low and high tides are caused by the Moon, this nuisance flooding is driven by additional factors. Costly floods that in the past might have only posed a threat during a storm, might now be triggered by merely a change in prevailing winds or currents or even a full Moon, according to NOAA.

What is Chandler motion?

The Chandler wobble is the change in the spin of Earth on its axis. The exact cause of the wobble in Earth’s polar motion has stumped scientists with few agreeing on the actual cause, other than the fact that the planet is not a perfect sphere. There are theories about the cause and the effect of the wobble.

How the full moon affects the tides?

When the sun, moon, and Earth are in alignment (at the time of the new or full moon), the solar tide has an additive effect on the lunar tide, creating extra-high high tides, and very low, low tides—both commonly called spring tides.

When did the Moon wobble?

While the study highlights the dire situation facing coastal cities, the lunar wobble is actually a natural occurrence, first reported in 1728. The moon’s orbit is responsible for periods of both higher and lower tides about every 18.6 years, and they aren’t dangerous in their own right.

What is pluvial flooding?

A pluvial flood occurs when an extreme rainfall event creates a flood independent of an overflowing water body. There are two common types of pluvial flooding: Surface water floods occur when an urban drainage system is overwhelmed and water flows out into streets and nearby structures.