Eli5:why we use the solar calendar instead of the lunar calendar?
In: Planetary Science
Lots of cultures use one or both. The exact calendar that most of the world uses is descended from a Roman calendar that was both lunar and solar.
In general, the benefit of the solar calendar is that you can keep the months and the seasons in sync. For example , “March” is always going to be that transition point between winter and spring. There is drift over time but it can be adjusted with things like leap years. A purely lunar calendar will shift over time so the months cross over multiple seasons as the years go on.
There are also observational calendars that use a fixed reference point and utilize adjustment days to make it start the same time each year. As an example the Baha’i calendar always starts on the first day of spring (the equinox after the shortest day). To make it line up, they will have “extra” days at the end of the last month to make sure the first day of the new year is always the same.
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