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A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases (synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based on the solar year. The most widely observed purely lunar calendar is the Islamic calendar .
Purely lunar calendar systems were known in China; however, purely lunar calendars tended to be of limited utility, and were not widely accepted by farmers, who for agricultural purposes needed to focus on predictability of seasons for planting and harvesting purposes, and thus required a calendar useful for agricultural.
Regardless of the culture, all lunar calendar months approximate the mean length of the synodic month, the average period the Moon takes to cycle through its phases (new, first quarter, full, last quarter) and back again: 29–30 [20] days.
The fact, however, that a year of twelve lunar months is ten or eleven days shorter than the solar year means that a lunar calendar drifts out of step with the seasons. Lunisolar calendars resolve this issue with a year of thirteen lunar months every few years, or by restarting the count at the first new (or full) moon after the winter solstice.
Moonrise/moonset for different moon phases Lunar phase (illustration as seen from northern hemisphere) Moonrise [a] Culmination time (highest point) Moonset Best seen New moon: 6 AM Noon 6 PM Not visible unless there is a solar eclipse: Waxing crescent 9 AM Afternoon 9 PM Late morning to early evening First quarter 12 PM Sunset 12 AM
In Indonesia, the Chinese New Year is officially named Tahun Baru Imlek (Chinese: 陰曆新年; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: im-le̍k sin-nî), with "Imlek" deriving from the Hokkien word for "Lunar Calendar" (Chinese: 陰曆; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: im-le̍k). [134] [135] It is known locally in Hokkien as Sin Cia (Chinese: 新正; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sin-chiaⁿ). [136]
It has been noted that the procedures described in the Mishnah and Tosefta are all plausible procedures for regulating an empirical lunar calendar. [105] Fire-signals, for example, or smoke-signals, are known from the pre-exilic Lachish ostraca. [106] Furthermore, the Mishnah contains laws that reflect the uncertainties of an empirical calendar.
A lunar calendar is one in which days are numbered within each lunar phase cycle. Because the length of the lunar month is not an even fraction of the length of the tropical year , a purely lunar calendar quickly drifts against the seasons, which do not vary much near the equator.