From wikipedia:
The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms. Chūnfēn, Shunbun, Chunbun, or Xuân phân is the 4th solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 0° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 15°. In the Gregorian calendar, it usually begins around 20 March and ends around 4 April (5 April East Asia time). It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at the celestial longitude of 0°.
Pentads
Each solar term can be divided into 3 pentads (候). They are:
first pentad (初候),
second pentad (次候) and
last pentad (末候).
Pentads in Chunfen include:
China
First pentad: 玄鳥至, 'The dark birds arrive'. 'Dark bird' in this case refers to swallows, which are also making their northward migration.
Second pentad: 雷乃發聲, 'Thunder sounds', referring to the onset of spring thunderstorms.
Last pentad: 始電, 'Lightning begins'. This refers to thunderstorms as well, but also to the gradual lengthening of daytime, and the prevalence of sunlight.
Japan
A pentad as follows was referred to Japanese traditional calendar presented in a smaller, easy to use, format.
First pentad: Suzume hajimete sukuu (雀始巣), 'Sparrow begins holding a nest'.
Second pentad: Sakura hajimete hiraku (桜始開), 'Cherry blossoms open for the first time'.
Last pentad: Kaminari sunawachi koeo hassu (雷乃発声), 'Distant thunder start to sound'.
The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms. Chūnfēn, Shunbun, Chunbun, or Xuân phân is the 4th solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 0° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 15°. In the Gregorian calendar, it usually begins around 20 March and ends around 4 April (5 April East Asia time). It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at the celestial longitude of 0°.
Pentads
Each solar term can be divided into 3 pentads (候). They are:
first pentad (初候),
second pentad (次候) and
last pentad (末候).
Pentads in Chunfen include:
China
First pentad: 玄鳥至, 'The dark birds arrive'. 'Dark bird' in this case refers to swallows, which are also making their northward migration.
Second pentad: 雷乃發聲, 'Thunder sounds', referring to the onset of spring thunderstorms.
Last pentad: 始電, 'Lightning begins'. This refers to thunderstorms as well, but also to the gradual lengthening of daytime, and the prevalence of sunlight.
Japan
A pentad as follows was referred to Japanese traditional calendar presented in a smaller, easy to use, format.
First pentad: Suzume hajimete sukuu (雀始巣), 'Sparrow begins holding a nest'.
Second pentad: Sakura hajimete hiraku (桜始開), 'Cherry blossoms open for the first time'.
Last pentad: Kaminari sunawachi koeo hassu (雷乃発声), 'Distant thunder start to sound'.
2019's Spring / Vernal Equinox
- It coincided with the 15th day of the 2nd Lunar month.
- It is a Super Moon.
- 21 March 2019, Wednesday (start time: 5:58 am for +8 GMT)
- There is fantastic article by NASA at: https://nasa.tumblr.com/post/158627335744/celestial-geometry-equinoxes-and-eclipses
Supermoon shot on the iPhone XS Max by Mr. Chua
Just signed a new mobile phone contract with Starhub and got myself a new smartphone upgrade. Together with a 18x telescopic add-on lens, while holding the phone very still, managed to take some decent shots of the supermoon on the night of the 20th March in Singapore.
Supermoon of March 2019
