Religion
In reply to the discussion: An interesting graphic about Easter (Dial-up warning large) [View all]struggle4progress
(118,295 posts)Last edited Sun Apr 20, 2014, 05:11 PM - Edit history (2)
which itself was traditionally determined by a combination of several indicators, including the first sliver of new moon after the vernal equinox, and other indicators of spring (such as barley ripening). Unlike the (almost) solar Julian calendar, the Jewish calendar incorporates lunar features, so requires more interpolation than a leap day here and there, which is why the moon was not used entirely alone. Passover is approximately the first full moon after the vernal equinox, tying together a lunar calendar to the beginning of spring. The recipe for Easter (approximately "first Sunday after first full moon on or after vernal equinox" clearly shows its Passover roots. The matter is slightly complicated by the fact that computational conventions gloss over various astronomical irregularities
Here are the dates for the next decade, showing that Easter is usually just a few days after Passover:
year: Gregorian Easter -- Passover
2014: 20 April -- 15 April
2015: 5 April -- 4 April
2016: 27 March -- 23 April
2017: 16 April -- 11 April
2018: 1 April -- 31 March
2019: 21 April -- 20 April
2020: 12 April -- 9 April
2021: 4 April -- 28 March
2022: 17 April -- 16 April
2023: 9 April -- 6 April
2024: 31 March -- 23 April
ON EDIT: What's going on in 2024? Well, the vernal equinox that year is 20 March. The next full moon on or after the vernal equinox is Monday 25 March, so Easter is the following Sunday 31 March. But the first sliver of a new moon after the vernal equinox is around 9 April and passover starts fourteen days after that