The Moon’s gravitational influence produces the ocean tides, body tides, and the slight lengthening of the day. The Moon’s current orbital distance is about thirty times the diameter of Earth, causing it to have an apparent size in the sky almost the same as that of the Sun, with the result that the Moon covers the Sun nearly precisely in total solar eclipse. super sub text-top text-bottom top bottom middle 2em -100%This matching of apparent visual size will not continue in the far future. The Moon’s linear distance from Earth is currently increasing at a rate of 3.82 ± 0.07 centimetres per year, but this rate is not constant.