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Keeping Time with the Skies

They do not divide

A Moon month is one round of the Moon's phases. Do twelve Moon months fit one year?

A solar year, one trip round the Sun, is 365 days.
Step 1 of 3
  1. A solar year, one trip round the Sun, is 365 days.
  2. Twelve Moon months make 354 days.
  3. The gap is nearly 11 days.

The rule

No, they do not fit. A Moon month is about 29.5 days. So 12 × 29.5 = 354 days.

Twelve Moon months make 354 days. A solar year is about 365 days. So twelve Moon months fall short by nearly 11 days.

A lunar calendar counts Moon months. It does not match the seasons. The gap grows about 11 days each year. After 3 years, 3 × 11 = 33 days. That is more than one month.

Slide the years. Watch the gap grow.

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This track

  1. 0 Start here
  2. 1 Where a day came from
  3. 2 A shadow that tells the time
  4. 3 Where a month came from
  5. 4 Where a year came from
  6. 5 They do not divide
  7. 6 A spare day every few years
  8. 7 Calendars people use
  9. 8 Where to look for the Moon
  10. 9 Satellites above us
  11. 10 Checkpoint: the Moon in the sky and satellites
  12. 11 The big picture
  13. 12 Track quiz

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