lunar years
Twelve synodic months
A lunar year is approximately twelve lunar months—the time it takes the moon to complete twelve cycles from new moon to new moon, about 354 days.
This is shorter than a solar year by roughly eleven days.
Some calendars, including the Islamic calendar, follow lunar years, which is why Islamic holidays shift earlier each year relative to the seasons.
The festival falls on a different date each lunar year.
- monthYear's twelfth part
- new moonUnlit lunar phase
- phasesDistinct periods in sequence
- cycleRepeating sequence of events
- intercalationInsertion between existing elements
full moon · harvest moon · blue moon · waning gibbous · eclipse · Islamic calendar · sidereal month · moon phases · Hebrew calendar · Chinese calendar · first quarter · crescent · periodicity · Metonic cycle · annular · tidal cycle · dark side · Eid