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Lunation is the mean time for one lunar phase
Lunar phase

Lunar phase refers to the appearance of the illuminated portion of the Moon as seen by an observer, usually on Earth. The lunar phases vary cyclically as the Moon orbits the Earth, according to the changing relative positions of the Earth, Moon, and Sun....
 cycle (i.e., the synodic period of the Moon
Moon

The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite and the List of natural satellites by diameter satellite in the Solar System. The average centre-to-centre distance from the Earth to the Moon is km, about thirty times the diameter of the Earth....
).  It is on average 29.530589 days, or 29 d 12 h 44 min 3 s.  The length of this cycle is linked to many phenomena in nature.

In a lunar calendar
Lunar calendar

A lunar calendar is a calendar that is based on cycles of the moon phase. The only widely used purely lunar calendar is the Islamic calendar or Hijri calendar, whose year always consists of 12 lunar months....
 each month
Month

The month is a unit of time, used with calendars, which is approximately as long as some natural Orbital period related to the motion of the Moon; month and Moon are cognates....
 corresponds to a lunation.

Individual lunations vary in length by several hours, because of the eccentricity of the orbit
ORBit

ORBit is a Common Object Request Broker Architecture 2.4 compliant Object Request Broker . It features mature C , C++ and Python bindings, and less developed bindings for Perl, Lisp , Pascal , Ruby , and Tcl....
s of the moon and Earth
Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun. Earth is the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in diameter, mass and density. It is also referred to as the World and Wiktionary:Terra.Note that by International Astronomical Union convention, the term "Terra" is used for naming extensive land masses, rather...
.  However, the lunation is never more than 15 hours behind or ahead of a mean lunation.








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Encyclopedia


Lunation is the mean time for one lunar phase
Lunar phase

Lunar phase refers to the appearance of the illuminated portion of the Moon as seen by an observer, usually on Earth. The lunar phases vary cyclically as the Moon orbits the Earth, according to the changing relative positions of the Earth, Moon, and Sun....
 cycle (i.e., the synodic period of the Moon
Moon

The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite and the List of natural satellites by diameter satellite in the Solar System. The average centre-to-centre distance from the Earth to the Moon is km, about thirty times the diameter of the Earth....
).  It is on average 29.530589 days, or 29 d 12 h 44 min 3 s.  The length of this cycle is linked to many phenomena in nature.

In a lunar calendar
Lunar calendar

A lunar calendar is a calendar that is based on cycles of the moon phase. The only widely used purely lunar calendar is the Islamic calendar or Hijri calendar, whose year always consists of 12 lunar months....
 each month
Month

The month is a unit of time, used with calendars, which is approximately as long as some natural Orbital period related to the motion of the Moon; month and Moon are cognates....
 corresponds to a lunation.

Individual lunations vary in length by several hours, because of the eccentricity of the orbit
ORBit

ORBit is a Common Object Request Broker Architecture 2.4 compliant Object Request Broker . It features mature C , C++ and Python bindings, and less developed bindings for Perl, Lisp , Pascal , Ruby , and Tcl....
s of the moon and Earth
Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun. Earth is the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in diameter, mass and density. It is also referred to as the World and Wiktionary:Terra.Note that by International Astronomical Union convention, the term "Terra" is used for naming extensive land masses, rather...
.  However, the lunation is never more than 15 hours behind or ahead of a mean lunation.

See also


  • month
    Month

    The month is a unit of time, used with calendars, which is approximately as long as some natural Orbital period related to the motion of the Moon; month and Moon are cognates....
  • lunar phase
    Lunar phase

    Lunar phase refers to the appearance of the illuminated portion of the Moon as seen by an observer, usually on Earth. The lunar phases vary cyclically as the Moon orbits the Earth, according to the changing relative positions of the Earth, Moon, and Sun....
  • new moon
    New moon

    In astronomical terminology, the new moon is the lunar phase that occurs when the Moon, in its monthly orbital motion around Earth, lies between Earth and the Sun, and is therefore in Conjunction with the Sun as seen from Earth....
    , full moon
    Full moon

    Full moon is a lunar phase that occurs when the Moon is on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun. More precisely, a full moon occurs when the geocentric apparent longitudes of the Sun and Moon differ by 180 degrees; the Moon is then in opposition with the Sun....
  • full moon cycle
    Full moon cycle

    The full moon cycle is a cycle of about 14 lunations over which full moons vary in apparent size and age . The sequence is*Full moon big - *Full moon young - ...
  • lunar calendar
    Lunar calendar

    A lunar calendar is a calendar that is based on cycles of the moon phase. The only widely used purely lunar calendar is the Islamic calendar or Hijri calendar, whose year always consists of 12 lunar months....
    , lunisolar calendar
    Lunisolar calendar

    A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures whose date indicates both the moon phase and the time of the solar year. If the solar year is defined as a tropical year then a lunisolar calendar will give an indication of the season; if it is taken as a sidereal year then the calendar will predict the constellation near which the full moo...
  • Lunation Number
    Lunation Number

    Lunation Number is a number given to each lunation beginning from a certain one in history. There are several series of lunation numbers in use....