If a moon's orbit takes 28 days, and it occurs 13 times a year..?

Question

and 13 times 28 equals 364 which is pretty close to 365.. why do we have 12 months and not 13?

Answer 1

Lunar calendars may work but they don't coincide with the seasons. And as you pointed out, lunar phases don't match the year exactly either, so some lunar 'years' have 12 months and others have 13.

Solar calendars were a big improvement so most cultures use them today. Also, thanks to the egos of Julius and Augustus Caesar we have 12 months instead of ten, and 12 divides nicely into quarters/seasons of roughly 3 months each.

Come to think of it, many common measures are based on dozens because of this convenience. There are 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour, and 360 degrees in a circle because these are all attempts to combine our klutzy base-ten counting system with the far more convenient base-twelve.

Most countries have switched to the metric system because it was an improvement over earlier systems, but still with base-ten arithmetic. Keep the metric system but count by twelves instead of tens and we would have the best of both worlds.

Answer 2

The Julian calendar, used in the west, isn't a lunar calendar - it's based on the time taken for the Earth to orbit the sun and doesn't involve the moon. The Islamic calendar is lunar, but it depends on the time between sightings of the new moon. There are 12 of these per year, hence 12 months, but less than 365 days per year.

Answer 3

Our calendar consists of 365 days, or 1 revolution around our sun. In reality, it takes about 365.25 days to make it around the sun. Every four years an extra day is added to February to account for the additional fractional amount that is rounded under. The moon orbits the earth in 27.322 days. Comparing the Lunar calendar with our solar Calendar is like comparing apples and oranges.

Answer 4

The moon orbits the earth every 27.3 days and the lunar phases repeat every 29.5 days.

The Earth orbits the sun every 365.25 days (thats why we have leap year)

The Earth's orbit and the moon's orbit do not coorelate to each other.

There have been many different calendars created over time, each with different sets of rules. Some coincided with the solar year and some missed it by a bit.

For a more thorough explanation, check with Wikipedia.

Answer 5

Months do not equal moons. Months are the time the sun appears to spend in each of the constellations of the zodiac. There are 12 constellations in the zodiac, and thus, 12 months.

Answer 6

I have prepared a Itinerary for you: Day 1:Land on Moon,have a cool cheesy lunch there,roam around watch places,Have rest. Day 2:We will next fly to saturn,we will enjoy the rings there special stay at the hotel at rings,beautiful colors and special rides. Day 3:Fly to pluto,please have some woollen clothes ready to face the cold. Day 4:Back to Earth, a long journey from pluto to earth but you will be entertained with the milky way view plus the comets game. Enjoy.

Answer 7

Many cultures do base their calenders on the moon. The Jewish calender has been doing so for 5767 years. Muslims also use a lunar calender and have done so for over 1000 years. The famous Mayan and Inca calenders also were astronomically based, and quite accurate. It is just the people who follow the Gregorian calender who have the problem of which you speak. Good question.

Answer 8

Months have been screwed around with over the centuries so much that they don't follow any particular pattern related to the moon anymore.

Answer 9

Because Julius Ceaser added a month (July) to the ten already in place, and Augustus Ceaser added another (August).

Answer 10

Because its not based on the frequency of a full moon.