Cool Moon Facts by Whip

Real astronomy, with sources. Folklore & tradition.

Fact #050 Phases & orbit

Moon phases repeat on the same calendar dates every 19 years, almost exactly. Easter is still calculated from that fact.

235 lunar months come to within a couple of hours of 19 solar years, the Metonic cycle, named for the Athenian who described it around 432 BC. Babylonian, Hebrew and Christian calendars are all built on it, which is why Easter moves around and why it moves around the way it does.

Source: U.S. Naval Observatory (opens in a new tab) · checked Aug 2026

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