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“synodic period”
synodic period
1. The length of time during which a body in the solar system makes one orbit of the sun relative to the earth; that is, returns to the same elongation.
2. The time required for a body in the solar system to return to the same or about the same position relative to the sun as seen from the earth.
Because the earth moves in its own orbit, the synodic period differs from the sidereal period, which is measured relative to the stars.
The synodic period of the moon, which is called the lunar month, or lunation, is 29 1/2 days long which is longer than the sidereal month.
The moon's synodic period is the time between successive recurrences of the same phase; that is, the period between one full moon and the next full moon.
This entry is located in the following unit:
Astronomy and related astronomical terms
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