How Is The Date For Easter Determined?

Sometimes I look up a simple question and end up with information about all kinds of other things. Go ahead and admit it; you do that, too. It’s one of the wonderful things about the internet. It’s also the reason I seldom make it through my to-do list.

Anyway, one of the kids asked me why Easter is so early some years and later other years. I know the answer, kind of. I knew it had to do with the moon. At least I thought I knew that. I’m old and information gets fuzzy bouncing around my brain. So I looked it up, took a stop along the way to discover that one of Kepler’s Laws states that all planets move in ellipticals (who knew?) and finally found what I wanted.

Do you know the answser? If not, here it is. Although there’s some long, drawn out explanation for all of this, Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox.

Today is the Spring Equinox. The full moon this year is on March 21, which is Friday. That’s why Easter will be this coming Sunday.

Next year the March full moon will occur on March 10 and the next one won’t be until April 9. So Easter in 2009 will be on the following Sunday, or April 12.

And now you know how the date for Easter is determined.