You can feel the Sun’s effect on tides because the Sun’s gravity helps pull on Earth’s oceans, although the Moon has the stronger tidal influence. When the Sun, Moon, and Earth are aligned, their gravitational effects can work together, producing higher high tides and lower low tides, known as spring tides.
The Sun’s influence becomes especially noticeable when comparing different phases of the Moon. During a new moon or full moon, the gravitational forces of the Sun and Moon reinforce each other. During the first- and third-quarter Moon phases, their tidal effects partly oppose each other, producing smaller tidal ranges called neap tides.
You cannot normally feel the Sun’s tidal pull directly as a person standing on a beach. Instead, you observe its effect through changes in sea level and tidal range. By comparing tide heights over many days and observing how they change with the positions of the Sun and Moon, we can see that the Sun is an important contributor to Earth’s regular tidal cycles.
