Question: Why don’t the moon's primary phases always line up directly with the Sabbath days: 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th?
Answer: The moon's primary phases will not always line up perfectly with the Sabbath days for the following reasons:
- There are about 29.5 days between one
conjunction and the next. Because months
cannot have 1/2 days, each lunar month is either 29 or 30 days.
- The lunar-solar conjunction can occur anytime
during the day or night. New Moon Day,
however, always commences at the first
dawn after conjunction. This means that
sometimes the month will begin more than 23 hours after conjunction, while at
other times, the month will begin only a few moments after conjunction.
- The perfect phases of the moon are achieved in an instant, but it takes 24 hours for everyone on earth to see the moon. While some will see the perfect phases, others will see the moon just before or just after it has achieved its perfect shape.
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It should be noted here that there are occasional anomalies in the moon’s behavior, meaning there are times when the moon will not become 100% full until the 16th day of the lunar month. For example: In Brisbane, Australia, the moon will not reach 100% illumination (Full Moon) until the morning of July 2 (2015), which is the 16th day of the lunar month there. The moon, during this particular lunation, takes longer than usual to become full, but then takes less time to return to new moon. New Moon = June 16 (2015) @14:05 |
