(astronomy) A calendar based on the time period known as the tropical year, which has 365.24220 days.
Solar calendar
| Sci-Tech Dictionary: solar calendar |
(′sō·lər ′kal·ən·dər)
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| WordNet: solar calendar |
Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.
The noun has one meaning:
Meaning #1:
a calendar based on solar cycles
| Wikipedia: Solar calendar |
A solar calendar is a calendar whose dates indicate the position of the earth on its revolution around the sun (or equivalently the apparent position of the sun moving on the celestial sphere).
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Tropical solar calendars
If the position of the earth in its orbit around the sun is reckoned with respect to the equinox, the point at which the orbit crosses the celestial equator, then its dates accurately indicate the seasons, that is, they are synchronized with the declination of the sun. Such a calendar is called a tropical solar calendar.
The duration of the mean calendar year of such a calendar approximates some form of the tropical year, usually either the mean tropical year or the vernal equinox year.
The following are tropical solar calendars:
- Gregorian calendar
- Julian calendar
- Bahá'í calendar
- Hindu calendar
- Coptic calendar
- Iranian calendar (Jalāli Calendar)
- Malayalam calendar
- Tamil calendar
- Thai solar calendar
Every one of these calendars has a year of 365 days, which is occasionally extended by adding an extra day to form a leap year, a method called "intercalation", the inserted day being "intercalary".
The Zoroastrian calendar is a religious calendar used by adherents of the Zoroastrian faith, and is an approximation of the tropical solar calendar.
Sidereal solar calendars
If the position of the earth (see above) is reckoned with respect to the fixed stars, then the dates indicate the zodiacal constellation near which the sun can be found. Such a calendar is called a sidereal solar calendar.
The mean calendar year of such a calendar approximates the sidereal year.
The Hindu calendar and Bengali calendar are sidereal solar calendars. They are usually 365 days long, but now and then take an extra day to make a leap year.
Non-solar calendars
Calendars that are not solar calendars include the Islamic calendar, which is a purely lunar calendar and calendars synchronized to the synodic period of Venus or to the heliacal risings of stars.
Lunisolar calendars
Lunisolar calendars may be regarded as solar calendars, although their dates additionally indicate the moon phase. Because a typical lunisolar calendar has a year made up of a whole number of lunar months, it can't indicate the position of Earth on its revolution around the sun as well as a pure solar calendar can.
See also
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 | epact |
| Gregorian calendar (solar calendar in use throughout) |
| Julian calendar (solar calendar) |
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 | Sci-Tech Dictionary. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms. Copyright © 2003, 1994, 1989, 1984, 1978, 1976, 1974 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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Mentioned in
- epact
- Gregorian calendar (solar calendar in use throughout)
- Julian calendar (solar calendar)
- Horoscope Yearbook (parapsychology)
- The Jewish calendar consists of 12 lunar months of 29.5 days, adding up to 354 days, not 365 as in the solar calendar; thus the calandar slips back 11 days each year. What ensures that Passover is the spring Festival, as mandated in the Torah?
- month
- How old is the calendar? (history)
- I Enoch
- Esbat (parapsychology)
- calendar (in archaeology)
- Eudoxus of Cnidus (Ancient Greek astronomer, mathematician & physician)
- day (time)
- Dead Sea Scrolls
- Why do Jewish holidays occur on different secular calendar dates each year?
