The Solar and Lunar Calendar; which is more accurate?!
Right from time, man has documented number of days and years in form of B.C., A.D., A.H. and the likes. But how do they achieve these counts!
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There are majorly two systems of calendar;
- the Solar calendar
- the Lunar calendar
Their differences are on the celestial body used in measurement.
The Solar calender popularly known as the Gregorian calender bases it principle on the revolution of the Earth around the Sun which roughly amounts to 365 days in a year. There's a month with an extra day every leap year (366 days in 4 years interval) to maintain the lag in time.
This calendar allows the synchrionization of seasons and climates i.e. the time when winter occurred in this year can be used to accurately predict the next year's.
Human activities and phenomena like the green house effect is progressively making slight changes to the season and climates.
The Lunar calendar such as the Hijri calendar used by Muslims worldwide for their religious activities and festivities bases it's principle on the revolution of the Moon around the Earth. A revolution takes between 29 to 30 days and represents a month. This calendar is still used traditionally in Japan, Korea, China, India and others.
This method is as old as man himself. Periods during the ages are usually calculated using the moon. A full moon appears in the sky at the middle of the month, around day 13 to 15.
There are 12 months in a lunar calendar therefore, 354 days make a year. The synchrony attained in the solar calendar is impossible here i.e. seasonal drift occurs. The sacred month of Ramadan in which fasting takes place may occur during summer this year and then fall into spring the subsequent year.
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On a general note, rising and setting of the Sun is used in counting days. Also, the 11 days difference between the solar and lunar calendar is called an epact.
Depending on your preference, any calendar can be considered. If you're concerned with seasons, the best option is a Gregorian calendar but, if you're concerned about the phases of the moon, then, lunar is the best choice.
Both calendar are accurate but it depends on your view.
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