precisely what we see. That is, most declarations of the full moons of Nisan and Tishri fall either on the 14th or 15th. Since both the length of the lunar month as well as the balance of the division of the waxing and waning periods are variable, on some occasions the full moon may actually fall on the 16th by comparison of the whole numbered day and the lunar phase. But, this is an exception to the average rule and not the normal. The logical normal demands that, on average the full moon by exact phase should fall either on the 14th or 15th. In 61 AD, for instance, the precise full moon of Tishri actually fell on the 16th day of the month. Both molad and conjunction times, by 12:00 noon rule would agree on a declaration of Thursday by day of the week for that year, resulting in a 15th moon that was slightly on the side of still waxing toward full. However, a declaration by observation would have pushed the declaration even further along in the week to Saturday, thus resulting in the full moon (by observation of the first crescent) that would not occur until Tishri 17th. So, logically, the Hebrew Calendar methods were, and still are, the most accurate. The moon's phase tracks on a 177 day elliptical when we look at the records of the lunar eclipse. The Hebrew Calendar methods follow this same line of thought. That is, an eclipse that might occur in the spring on Nisan 14 might logically occur again on Tishri 14 of the same year. The same would apply for the 15th and 16th eclipse dates. By this view of tracking the mathematics of astronomical logic, the Nisan-Elul period has been set at 177 days. This also provides that the Nisan - Tishri full moon eclipse would fall at the 177-day interval. Why is this an important point? Well, in order to accomplish this logical sheet of balance for calendar declarations, it is necessary to establish an order of fixed lengths for the months bordering the 177 span. Therefore, we would not expect to begin Nisan with 30 days, followed by an alternation of 29 and 30 days months (which add up to 177), but then decide later on in the summer to have both Ab and Elul fall out at 29 days each. Why? Because now we have messed up the elliptical of 177 by reducing it to 176 days, as a result of modifying Ab from 30 to 29. Not logical according to astronomical and mathematical concepts which must deal with whole numbers when coming up with dates of declaration based on a lunar span that is quite fractured. The Hebrew Calendar is a straightforward, logical machine. Other lunar options pose many obstacles, making it quite difficult, as is said, "to get there from here."
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