Are there solar tides? (Beginner)

Do we feel solar tides in addition to lunar tides?

We do feel tides from the sun! The Earth has a small tidal bulge due to the sun, which causes solar ocean tides. However, because the moon is much closer to us than the sun, we feel the effects of lunar tides more strongly. Solar tides tend to have more of an effect when they line up in some way with lunar tides.

For example, when the sun, earth, and moon are aligned, the tidal pulls add up and we observe the largest daily range in tides (spring tides). When the sun, moon, and earth form a right angle, we observe the smallest daily range in tides (neap tides).

For more info on tides, look here:

This page was last updated on February 10, 2016

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