Quantum Diaries Blog: Is the moon full? Just ask the LHC operators
Corrections to proton orbits in the LHC appear as regular dips in the instantaneous luminosity measured by CMS (beige) and ATLAS (green).
The LHC is so large that the gravitational force exerted by the moon is not the same at all points, which creates small distortions of the tunnel. And the machine is sensitive enough to detect minute deformations created by the small differences in gravitational force across its diameter.
Therefore, the orbits of protons in the accelerator have to be adjusted regularly to account for the gravitational effect of the moon.
Read more on the Quantum Diaries Blog post.
