![]() Whether lunar tides can influence the plasma-dominated regions, which are much more extensive in space, has not yet been explored. In the past, lunar tides were mainly found to affect the first three states: solid Earth tides, liquid ocean tides and neutral gas-dominated atmospheric tides. If we follow the four states of matter, they progress from solid, liquid and gas to plasma, which is the dominant component of the Earth–Moon space environment. Atmospheric tides have a global impact on rainfall 28, and ionospheric tides can affect radio transmission and low-Earth-orbit satellite altitude 9, 29. For example, the Earth’s crustal tide can trigger seismic 22, 23, 24 and volcanic activity 25, and the ocean tide can influence the flow of heat from equatorial to polar regions 26 and the evolution of primordial terrestrial species from aquatic life 27. These lunar tides mainly have semidiurnal (and semimonthly) periods 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and are of fundamental importance to conditions on our planet. Periodic lunar tidal effects have been observed in the Earth’s crust, oceans, near-ground geomagnetic field, atmosphere and ionosphere 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. As the Earth’s sole natural satellite, the Moon and its gravitational interaction with Earth have attracted extensive research and curiosity over several hundred years 4. Tides are universal phenomena and often play essential roles in planetary and galactic systems wherever gradients in gravitational attraction are important 1, 2, 3. Furthermore, these findings may have implications for tidal interactions in other two-body celestial systems. These results demonstrate the importance of lunar tidal effects in plasma-dominated regions, influencing understanding of the coupling between the Moon, atmosphere and magnetosphere system through gravity and electromagnetic forces. ![]() The signal possesses distinct diurnal (and monthly) periodicities, which are different from the semidiurnal (and semimonthly) variations dominant in the previously observed lunar tide effects in other regions. We obtain these results by analysing variations in the plasmasphere’s boundary location over the past four decades from multisatellite observations. Here we show evidence of a lunar tide-induced signal in the plasmasphere, the inner region of the magnetosphere, which is filled with cold plasma. However, whether a lunar tide effect exists in the plasma-dominated regions has not been explored yet. In the Earth–Moon system, effects caused by lunar tides were reported in the Earth’s crust, oceans, neutral gas-dominated atmosphere (including the ionosphere) and near-ground geomagnetic field. Tides are universal and affect spatially distributed systems, ranging from planetary to galactic scales.
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