EASTER MOON

The date of Easter Day is usually the first Sunday after the first Full Moon occurring on or after the March equinox. According to the Bible, Jesus’ death and resurrection occurred around the time of the Jewish Passover, which was celebrated on the first full moon following the vernal equinox. This soon led to Christians celebrating Easter on different dates. At the end of the 2nd century, some churches celebrated Easter on the day of the Passover, while others celebrated it on the following Sunday.

In 325CE the Council of Nicaea established that Easter would be held on the first Sunday after the first full moon occurring on or after the vernal equinox. From that point forward, the Easter date depended on the ecclesiastical approximation of March 21 for the vernal equinox. Easter is delayed by 1 week if the full moon is on Sunday, which decreases the chances of it falling on the same day as the Jewish Passover. The council’s ruling is contrary to the Quartodecimans, a group of Christians who celebrated Easter on the day of the full moon, 14 days into the month.

Not all Christian churches observe Easter according the Gregorian calendar. Some churches still observe Easter under the Julian calendar. The Gregorian calendar was created because the Julian calendar was slightly too long. With the Julian calendar, the equinox date moved towards the earlier dates of March and further away from the Easter. Therefore, the introduction of the Gregorian calendar allowed for a realignment with the equinox.

In the Gregorian calendar, Easter falls on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25 from 1753 to 2400. In the Julian calendar, used by some eastern or Orthodox churches, Easter also falls on a Sunday from March 22 to April 25, which in the Gregorian calendar are from April 3 to May 10 from 1753 to 2400.

There have been a number of suggested reforms for the Easter date. For example, in 1997 the World Council of Churches proposed a reform of the Easter calculation to replace an equation-based method of calculating Easter with direct astronomical observation. This would have solved the Easter date difference between churches that observe the Gregorian calendar and those that observe the Julian calendar. The reform was proposed to be implemented in 2001, but it is not yet adopted.

Another example of a proposed reform occurred in the United Kingdom, where the Easter Act 1928 was established to allow the Easter date to be fixed as the first Sunday after the second Saturday in April. However, this law was not implemented, although it remains on the UK Statute Law Database.

If you celebrate Easter, may you have a peaceful and happy celebration!

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Friday Photo Journal.

SUMMER SUNRISE

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Photo Friday meme,
and also part of the Weekend Green meme.

SOUTH WHARF PROMENADE

South Wharf on the southern bank of the Yarra is surrounded by many shopping, dining and conference facilities. The new South Wharf Promenade is home to some of Melbourne’s most exciting hospitality talent, housed in lovingly restored heritage cargo sheds. These cafés and restaurants boast one of the most beautiful waterside views in Melbourne, all within easy reach of the central city.

South Wharf is the site of the Polly Woodside Maritime Museum. Polly Woodside is a Belfast-built, three-masted, iron-hulled barque, preserved in Melbourne, Australia, and forming the central feature of the South Wharf precinct. The ship was originally built in Belfast by William J. Woodside and was launched in 1885. Polly Woodside is typical of thousands of smaller iron barques built in the last days of sail, intended for deep water trade around the world and designed to be operated as economically as possible. It is now moored alongside the Melbourne Convention centre.

South Wharf’s striking new pedestrian "Seafarers' Bridge" is fittingly named to reflect Melbourne’s rich maritime history. Officially named in late-2009, the bridge is already popular with walkers and bike riders accessing Melbourne’s world-class Convention Centre and travelling to and from Docklands.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Photo Friday meme,
and also part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the Scenic Weekends meme.

PARKLANDS FOOTBRIDGE

Some time ago we had some wild weather in Melbourne and the Darebin Creek in the Parklands was quite flooded. More rains and storms followed shortly after. More rain followed later and there was quite a bit of damage with the footbridge you see here having suffered a little as you can see here in late December last year.

The footbridge has been repaired since then and the damage is slowly growing out of the trees, bushes and grasslands. As you can see in the latest photo below, the landscape looks quite idyllic again.

This post is part of the Weekend Green meme,
and also part of the Photo Friday meme,
and also part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the Scenic Weekends meme.

NESTING TIME

A $75,000 public art sculpture installed in Darebin Parklands had initially divided residents, with some saying the egg-shaped work looks out of place in bushland. Darebin council’s art and culture department commissioned the artwork, "The Nest"  which was made by artists David Bell and Gary Tippett from recycled materials. The artwork itself has been praised by residents, but some have  criticised the location chosen. Darebin Parklands Association president Ingrid Svendsen said there was no community desire for artwork in the park and said the push came from council bureaucrats.

Council’s acting director of city design and environment, David Shepard, said the council had received positive feedback from parklands users. He said the council’s Public Art Strategy involved a ‘‘very detailed’’ community consultation process. Love it or hate it, it is a very imposing structure and it commands attention from several key viewpoints. Most people I have talked to seem to think it's cool. Besides, it's quite photogenic...

This post is part of the Weekend Green meme,
and also part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Photo Friday meme.

SUNSET APPROACHING

The days are getting noticeably shorter and the evenings are beginning to be consistently cool. Summer is departing and Autumn is approaching. Still, we are experiencing some beautiful, fine days, not too hot and not too cool - just like today. And as sunset approaches, it's time to think of the end of Summer too...

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Photo Friday meme.