#Lunar lunacy full

The Moon: Our natural satellite What Is a Lunar Day?Ģ9.5 days is also the length of a solar day on the Moon. This is why a synodic (lunar) month is around 2.2 days longer than a sidereal month. So, after completing a sidereal month, the Moon has to move a little further to catch up to the same alignment with the Sun and Earth as at the previous New Moon. However, at the same time as the Moon is orbiting Earth, our planet continues its annual orbit around the Sun in the same direction. If Earth stood still, the synodic (lunar) month would be the same as the sidereal month. Sidereal refers to the Latin word for stars, and sidereal month means that the Moon returns to the same point under the stars. The time it takes the Moon to complete one orbit around Earth is called a sidereal month. A lunar month is the time it takes the Moon to go through all its phases. The orientation of the illuminated side of the Moon in the Northern Hemisphere. The astronomical term is a synodic month, from the Greek term synodos, meaning meeting or conjunction.Īn average lunar month lasts 29.530575 days or 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 2 seconds, a few days short of a calendar month. Normally, this is from one New Moon until the succeeding New Moon.Ī lunar month, or a lunar cycle, is also known as a lunation. Is the Moon upside-down in the other hemisphere? How Do We Measure a Lunar Month?Ī lunar month is generally measured from the precise moment of one primary Moon phase to the moment of the same Moon phase the next lunar month. The intermediate Moon phases are Waxing Crescent Moon, Waxing Gibbous Moon, Waning Gibbous Moon, and Waning Crescent Moon.

#Lunar lunacy full

The primary phases are New Moon, First Quarter Moon, Full Moon, and Third Quarter Moon. Primary Moon phases happen at a specific moment in time, while the time between these moments are intermediate Moon phases. As the Moon orbits Earth, it changes how much of the lit-up side we can see. Half of the Moon’s surface is always illuminated by sunlight. Note that the shortest lunar months coincide with Super New Moons (Jan 21 and Feb 20, 2023) when the Moon is near perigee conversely, the longest lunar months fall close to the Micro New Moon on Aug 16. Business Date to Date (exclude holidays).