The Lantern Festival, which marks the end of the Spring Festival holiday, is an important moment in traditional Chinese festivals to admire the moon. On this day, people are accustomed to look up at the bright moon, and the special phenomenon of the moon on this night has attracted the attention of astronomers.
Experts pointed out that on the night of the Lantern Festival, we can not only enjoy the beautiful scenery of the "fifteenth moon and fifteenth round", but also have the opportunity to witness a very rare astronomical phenomenon - "the smallest full moon".
The minimum Full Moon is the Full Moon that occurs when the Moon is in its elliptical orbit near apogee (i.e., the farthest point from the Earth), when the Moon appears smaller than at other times.
Since the distance between the Moon and the Earth is constantly changing, the size of the Full Moon will also vary. Encountering the smallest full moon during the Lantern Festival is a rare phenomenon because it requires the moon's cycle to coincide with the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and this alignment does not happen every year.
According to astronomers, it is extremely rare for the Lantern Festival to encounter the smallest full moon in this century, and there are only two chances. This is due not only to the nature of the moon's orbit, but also to the difference between the lunar and Gregorian calendars.
The Lantern Festival in 2024 happens to be one of the moments when this phenomenon happens. On this special night, at 8:30 p.m., the moon will reach its fullest state, and it will be the most "mini" full moon of the year.
It is important to note that although the Lantern Festival is usually celebrated on the 15th day of the first lunar month, the full moon may actually appear on the lunar calendar.
Ten. Five, sixteenth or seventeenth. Interestingly, the moon's chances of perfection on the 16th are even slightly higher than on the 15th. For example, the smallest Full Moon in 2023 occurs just after 2 a.m. on the 16th day of the first lunar month.