The smallest full moon of the year is to fall on the Lantern Festival tomorrow, in an alignment that will not occur again until 2086, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said yesterday.
The Lantern Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the first month of the Lunisolar calendar, the museum said in a news release.
On the calendar, the first and 15th day of each month coincide approximately with the respective dates of the new moon and full moon, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei Astronomical Museum
However, because each lunar phase lasts 29.53 days, the odds of the full moon falling precisely on the 15th day of the month are less than 40 percent, the museum said.
Almost half of all full moons land on the 16th day of the month, while a small portion fall either on the 14th or 17th day, it said.
This year’s Lantern Festival — which is tomorrow — is to coincide not only with a full moon, but also the smallest full moon of the year, for the first time since 1962 and the last time until 2086, the museum said, adding that because the moon’s orbit around the Earth is an ellipse, rather than a perfect circle, it is sometimes closer to Earth and sometimes farther away, making the moon appear larger or smaller.
While the smallest full moon of the year is to occur tomorrow, the largest is to take place on Oct. 17, the museum said, adding that the apparent size difference would be similar to the difference between a NT$1 and NT$5 coin.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after the Czech officials confirmed that Chinese agents had surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March last year. Czech Military Intelligence director Petr Bartovsky yesterday said that Chinese operatives had attempted to create the conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, going as far as to plan a collision with her car. Hsiao was vice president-elect at the time. The MAC said that it has requested an explanation and demanded a public apology from Beijing. The CCP has repeatedly ignored the desires
Many Chinese spouses required to submit proof of having renounced their Chinese household registration have either completed the process or provided affidavits ahead of the June 30 deadline, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. Of the 12,146 people required to submit the proof, 5,534 had done so as of Wednesday, MAC deputy head and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. Another 2,572 people who met conditions for exemption or deferral from submitting proof of deregistration — such as those with serious illnesses or injuries — have submitted affidavits instead, he said. “As long as individuals are willing to cooperate with the legal
The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant’s license has expired and it cannot simply be restarted, the Executive Yuan said today, ahead of national debates on the nuclear power referendum. The No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County was disconnected from the nation’s power grid and completely shut down on May 17, the day its license expired. The government would prioritize people’s safety and conduct necessary evaluations and checks if there is a need to extend the service life of the reactor, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference. Lee said that the referendum would read: “Do
The Ministry of Environment yesterday held a seminar in Taipei for experts from Taiwan and Japan to exchange their experiences on the designs and development of public toilets. Japan Toilet Association chairman Kohei Yamamoto said that he was impressed with the eco-toilet set up at Daan Forest Park, adding that Japan still faces issues regarding public restrooms despite the progress it made over the past decades. For example, an all-gender toilet was set up in Kabukicho in Tokyo’s Shinjuku District several years ago, but it caused a public backlash and was rebuilt into traditional men’s and women’s toilets, he said. Japan Toilet Association
RSS