Last Night Was Pitch Black, Last Day Of The Lunar Month

 Yesterday Monday 8th April 2024  was the last night of the lunar month in both the Tamil and Chinese calendars. The night was pitch black because there was completely 'no moon'.   So this automatically means that today 9th April 2024 is the first day of the new lunar month in the Chinese (and Tamil) calendars. 

Here is a table from the Hong Kong Observatory:  Gregorian-Lunar Calendar Conversion Table of 2024, Hong Kong Observatory  https://www.hko.gov.hk 

You can see the Third Lunar Month in the Chinese calendar starts today 9th April 2024.

In the Tamil (Indian) calendar the last day of the lunar month is called Amavasai.  It means 'no moon night' thus signifying the next day as the 'new moon day'.  

"This month Amavasya will occur on April 8, 2024". Which was last night.

I dont know the Chinese name but it is known as 'complete black' or complete darkness. That is the last night of the lunar month where there is completely no moonlight. 

In the (Chinese) lunar system of months, the the first day of a lunar month is the day when a new moon appears in a particular time zone, when the Moon is completely 'black'. Hence the new month begins at midnight."

So in both the Tamil and Chinese lunar calendars they do not need to sight the new moon to determine the beginning of the new lunar month. They just calculate the last day of the present month ie the last night of the present lunar month when there is completely no moon visible in the sky at night. The next day is automatically the first day of the new lunar month.

For moon watchers the crescent of the new moon may not always be immediately visible because the new crescent could be during sunlight and therefore not visible to the eye.

But within 24-48 hours of a new lunar month the crescent is already like a yellow banana in the sky, quite visible to everyone. 

Richard Dawkins said 'You can have your own opinions but you cannot have your own facts'.

Yesterday 8th April 2024 was also special because it coincided with a solar eclipse which was seen in some countries. Here is a video clip from the USA. 

The views expressed are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.