Why is Mid-Autumn Festival on the 15th instead of the 16th? The best time to enjoy the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2021

Why is Mid-Autumn Festival on the 15th instead of the 16th? The best time to enjoy the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2021
Whenever the Mid-Autumn Festival comes, the elders in the family always say "The moon on the 15th is fuller on the 16th". From childhood to adulthood, we have heard this folk saying countless times. So, why is the Mid-Autumn Festival on the 15th and not the 16th? When is the best time to enjoy the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2021? As we enter the eighth lunar month of 2021, the temperature has finally dropped. What kind of development trend will our fortune show? Welcome to Shuimoxiansheng.com to get the exciting fortune content for the eighth month of the lunar calendar in 2021, and we will give you detailed answers!

Why is Mid-Autumn Festival on the 15th instead of the 16th?

In fact, the Mid-Autumn Festival in some areas is on the 16th, but officially it is the 15th.
The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as Moon Festival, Autumn Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, August Festival, August Meeting, Moon-Chasing Festival, Moon-Playing Festival, Moon-Worshiping Festival, Daughters' Festival or Reunion Festival, is a traditional cultural festival popular among many ethnic groups in China and countries in the Chinese character cultural circle. It falls on the 15th day of the eighth month in the lunar calendar. It is named so because it falls exactly in the middle of the three autumns. In some places, the Mid-Autumn Festival is set on August 16.

Why is the moon fullest on the 16th?

"The moon is full on the 15th and the 16th" is an astronomical phenomenon. Whether the moon is full or not is determined by the "new moon" and "full moon".
New Moon: On the first day of the lunar calendar, the moon moves between the Earth and the Sun. The illuminated hemisphere of the moon is facing away from the Earth, so we cannot see the moon. This is called the "new moon" or "new moon".
Wang: On the 15th and 16th day of the lunar calendar, the bright side of the moon is facing the earth, so we see the round moon, which is called "full moon" or "Wang".
The fundamental reason for the late arrival of the full moon is that the speed of the moon's revolution around the earth is not constant. Affected by hundreds of factors, the speed of the moon's revolution around the earth is sometimes fast and sometimes slow. The standard of the lunar calendar is that the new moon must fall on the first day of the month.
Normally, if the "new moon" is in the early morning of the first day of the lunar month, then the "full moon" should be in the night of the fifteenth day. Therefore, when the "Shuo" appears relatively late on the first day, the "Wang" appears on the sixteenth day. Sometimes even up to seventeen.
This is why there is a saying that “the moon is full on the 15th, 16th, or even 17th.”

The best time to enjoy the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2021

The best time to view the moon is one hour after sunset and around midnight.
Astronomical forecasts show that the Lantern Festival moon this year will be "the full moon on the 15th and the 16th", and the fullest moment (full moon) will occur at 16:17 on the 27th.
Lin Yuan, a member of the Chinese Astronomical Society and an astronomical science expert in Tianjin, said that one hour after sunset on the Lantern Festival, a full moon was hanging low in the east, and its bright light filled the sky.
At this time, the moon's altitude angle is about 20 to 30 degrees, which makes it look very large and very suitable for viewing and taking pictures.
As time passed, the moon became brighter. Around midnight, the full moon rises near the zenith, presenting the beautiful sight of “the moon at the zenith shining overhead”.
When the moon rises to this time, it is already "over the willow branches". If you look closely at the surface of the moon, those "traces" of light and dark will give people endless imagination and a unique appeal.

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