Convert Sidereal Months to Synodic Months

Convert Sidereal Months (sid.mo) to Synodic Months (syn.mo) instantly and accurately.

Conversion Formula

syn.mo = sid.mo × 0.9251986754

About Sidereal Months

The sidereal month = Moon's orbital period relative to the fixed stars = 27.3217 days = 2,360,591.6 s - the shortest lunar month. It is ~2.21 days shorter than the synodic month (29.53 d) because Earth advances ~27° along its orbit in the same period; the Moon must travel further to re-align with the Sun. Used in GPS orbit design, tidal modelling, and lunar laser ranging. 1 sid.mo = 27.3217 d.

About Synodic Months

A synodic (lunar) month = new moon to new moon = 29.5306 days = 2,551,442.9 s. Longer than the sidereal month (27.32 d) because Earth advances ~27° in its orbit during that time; the Moon must travel further to realign with the Sun. Islamic Hijri, Hebrew lunisolar, and Chinese calendars are built on synodic months. Eclipses repeat via the Saros cycle (18 yr 11 d = 223 synodic months). 1 syn.mo ≈ 29.5306 d.

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