While it may seen odd to some, a waning moon at the time of my birth was 54.54 % full. Also, a waxing moon can be either waxing or waning moon, because it is a point where going from new moon to being 54 % full is also the same as going from full to a new moon when it hits 54% again on its way to being totally dark for 2 days of its cycle.
The moon takes 27.3 days to orbit the earth. The lunar phase cycle which is new moon to new moon takes 29.53059 days. The moon uses those more-or-less 2 days to catch up because the earth travels 45 million miles around the Sun. During that time, the moon makes a full cycle. And speaking of cycles, the moon lives on a 18.6 year cycle. The current 18.6 year cycle ends in 2024-2025.
A lot of us humans have experienced the rising and falling tides of the ocean at the beaches of the world. Those tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the moon on the earth. The net effect is that by that happening, the oceans of the world are constantly being stirred (and sometimes shaken to the chagrin of Mr. Bond, James Bond).
Over a 200 year observation period, it has been determined that the correlation is very good that the 18.6 year cycles is a far better forecaster than sunspot cycles according to Iowa State University (A Big Ten School, I might add). And so is the half-cycle of 9.3 years. These cycles can also be found in crop yields and geological formations. And if that isn't enough, the moon is ever-so-slowly receding from the earth, which also changes these periods every-so-slowly as Iowa State researchers have reported.
The strength of Lunar tides, directly caused by the 5-degree tilt to the Sun-Earth plane is the cause of the tidal strength at any given point on earth in these 18.6 year cycles of the moon. Some can be more intense than others.
So, I go out every so often to watch the moon come up or even set sometimes. To think that men from Earth have walked on that surface still blows my mind. Personally, I'm happy that we have been there and further exploration at this point is either going to get someone killed, lost in space, or both. With out the power to travel near the speed of light will still take a life time to get somewhere else. Yes, I know that some will challenge that statement, but you get the point that is trying to be made here.
Just think, when the recently discovered super massive black hole that merged with two massive black holes, the shock wave in gravitational waves just got back to earth this year. That explosive collision happened 7 billion years ago.
Source: BBC News, Science & Environment. Black holes: Cosmic Signal rattles Earth after 7 billion years.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53993937
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