Imagine that you dug a hole and planted a pole pointing straight up. At precisely noon, the shadow of the pole would point due north
(or due south, depending on your latitude).
That "noon" is the "local apparent solar time", as shown by a sundial. It's when the Sun is highest in the sky.
Noon on a clock would probably be a little different. Clocks use "mean solar time".
It takes the Earth about 23 hours and 56 minutes to rotate one time. But, after that time, the shadow of the pole would not be pointing due north/south. It would be at an angle. During that 23 hours and 56 minutes, the Earth has traveled far enough in its orbit so that it takes another 4 minutes to rotate enough to make the pole's shadow point north/south.
If you could do this with a star instead of with the Sun, it would take 23 hours and 56 minutes. The "sidereal day" is precisely one rotation of the Earth, with reference to the fixed stars. But the "solar day" is referenced to the Sun and so the solar day is 24 hours.
Actually, it's the "mean solar day" that's exactly 24 hours. The "mean solar day" averages out the natural variations in the length of the solar day during a year.
Also, this answer is about the planet Earth. On different planets you get other
time differences, of course.
For the planet Earth, the difference is about 4 minutes and a few seconds; the sidereal day is shorter by that amount.
The reason is that one sidereal day is the time that it takes the Earth to rotate 360 degrees on its axis. But in that time, the Earth has continued to move along in its orbit around the Sun. So in order to get back to the point where the Sun is in the same position in the sky, the Earth has to spin for about another four minutes. That's a solar (or Sun referenced) day.
Interestingly, on the planet Venus it is the solar day that's shorter. That's because of the "retrograde rotation" of Venus.
Solar eclipses are when the moon travels in between the sun and the earth, creating a circular shadow on the Earth's surface, temporarily. (Don't stare at the moon during solar eclipses!)
Lunar eclipses are when the earth gets in between the moon and the sun, creating a shadow over the moon, temporarily.
A solar day is 24 hours, which is the time it takes the Earth to spin on its axis around the sun and come back to its starting point. The difference in a lunar day is that the moon revolves around the Earth in the same direction the Earth rotates in is axis. This makes a lunar day 24 hours and 50 minutes.
A solar year lasts approximately 365.24 days. A lunar year lasts 354.37 days. The difference between the two is 10.87 days, or 10 days, and nearly 21 hours.
The period of difference between a solar year (365 days) and a lunar year (354 days) is roughly 11 days. This is why lunar calendars (based on the moon's phases) need to add intercalary months to stay in sync with solar calendars (based on Earth's orbit around the sun).
The eleven days' difference between the lunar and solar year is called an "intercalary period." This periodic adjustment helps reconcile the lunar and solar calendars, ensuring that they remain synchronized over time.
The period is called a "lunar year" or "lunisolar year." It is used in many calendars to reconcile the difference between the length of a lunar month and a solar year.
The period of difference between the lunar and solar year is called the epact. This is the time it takes for the moon to return to the same phase relative to the sun, which is approximately 19 solar years.
A solar year lasts approximately 365.24 days. A lunar year lasts 354.37 days. The difference between the two is 10.87 days, or 10 days, and nearly 21 hours.
The period of difference between a solar year (365 days) and a lunar year (354 days) is roughly 11 days. This is why lunar calendars (based on the moon's phases) need to add intercalary months to stay in sync with solar calendars (based on Earth's orbit around the sun).
The eleven days' difference between the lunar and solar year is called an "intercalary period." This periodic adjustment helps reconcile the lunar and solar calendars, ensuring that they remain synchronized over time.
The period is called a "lunar year" or "lunisolar year." It is used in many calendars to reconcile the difference between the length of a lunar month and a solar year.
The answer is epact
No, a lunar year is shorter than a solar year. A lunar year is based on the time it takes for the moon to orbit the Earth, which is about 354 days. In contrast, a solar year is based on the time it takes for the Earth to orbit the sun, which is about 365 days.
The period of difference between the lunar and solar year is called the epact. This is the time it takes for the moon to return to the same phase relative to the sun, which is approximately 19 solar years.
The lunar year is in fact shorter than a solar year,it consists in the region of 354 days a year.
The period of approximately 11 days between the solar and lunar year is known as the epact. It is used in calculating the date of Easter in the Christian calendar.
A moon year consists of 12 lunar months, which is approximately 354 days. This is shorter than a solar year, which consists of 365 days.
It's about 354 days, which is about 11 days less than a solar year.
Approximately 12, but 12 lunar months are a little less than a solar year. In China, both lunar and solar calendars are used, but the lunar New Year does not fall on the same date of the solar year all the time. Occasionally they have a 13th lunar month to bring them back into alignment.