<p>Do lunar standstills (North or South) coincide with full Moon/new Moon/any phase? No.</p>
<p>A standstill occurs when the Moon reaches the northern most declination (or southern) in its orbit. That occurs approximately every 27.3 days.</p>
<p>The phase is related to the position of the Moon relative to the Sun. Since the Sun appears to be moving in the sky, the time from new Moon to new Moon is approximately every 29.5 days.</p>
<p>Because the two periods (27.3 and 29.5 days) are different and not a simple ratio (such as 2 to 1), there is no direct correlation between the standstills and the Moon's phase.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-31T18:09:25.680Z
Don't standstills occur twice approx every 27.3 days?
Connor Garcia
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-31T19:15:20.313Z
@ConnorGarcia Yes, the northern standstill occurs every 27.3 days, and the southern standstill occurs every 27.3 days. They are offset by approximately two weeks. (I'm not sure if it is exactly half the sidereal period!)
JohnHoltz
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-31T23:57:05.320Z
@JohnHoltz:  they would be exactly half if the orbit were circular and not perturbed by the sun.  Ignoring the sun, the half that has the perigee in it will be faster.  The sun messes it up by making the half traveling toward the sun faster than the half traveling away.  I don't know what dominates.
Ross Millikan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-01T02:20:14.197Z
@JohnHoltz That piqued my interest so I've asked a follow-up question [How do times of lunar standstills vary over time? If we folded them back into a lunar month plot, would they have "prograde and retrograde motion"?](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/q/50935/7982)
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-01T02:20:20.280Z
@RossMillikan ditto
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-31T17:21:58.667Z
2022-10-31T17:21:58.667Z
JohnHoltz
<ul>
<li>Do either of the standstills (N/S) coincide with full/new moon?</li>
<li>If yes - what is the relationship?</li>
<li>If no - what factors impact the relationship between the two?</li>
</ul>

<the-moon>
Are lunar phases and lunar standstills in sync with each other?
IsaacZ
# Are lunar phases and lunar standstills in sync with each other?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-10-31)

* Do either of the standstills (N/S) coincide with full/new moon?
* If yes - what is the relationship?
* If no - what factors impact the relationship between the two?

**Tags:** the-moon

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2022-10-31. Score: 8 | Accepted answer

Do lunar standstills (North or South) coincide with full Moon/new Moon/any phase? No.

A standstill occurs when the Moon reaches the northern most declination (or southern) in its orbit. That occurs approximately every 27.3 days.

The phase is related to the position of the Moon relative to the Sun. Since the Sun appears to be moving in the sky, the time from new Moon to new Moon is approximately every 29.5 days.

Because the two periods (27.3 and 29.5 days) are different and not a simple ratio (such as 2 to 1), there is no direct correlation between the standstills and the Moon's phase.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Don't standstills occur twice approx every 27.3 days?  
> **username_1**: @ConnorGarcia Yes, the northern standstill occurs every 27.3 days, and the southern standstill occurs every 27.3 days. They are offset by approximately two weeks. (I'm not sure if it is exactly half the sidereal period!)  
> **username_3**: @JohnHoltz:  they would be exactly half if the orbit were circular and not perturbed by the sun.  Ignoring the sun, the half that has the perigee in it will be faster.  The sun messes it up by making the half traveling toward the sun faster than the half traveling away.  I don't know what dominates.  
> **username_4**: @JohnHoltz That piqued my interest so I've asked a follow-up question [How do times of lunar standstills vary over time? If we folded them back into a lunar month plot, would they have "prograde and retrograde motion"?](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/q/50935/7982)  
> **username_4**: @RossMillikan ditto  

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