Chinese Year of the Snake The Chinese New Year is determined by the lunisolar calendar – based on precise astronomical observation of the sun’s longitude and the phases of the moon – which dates back thousands of years FAMOUS SNAKES Taylor Swift J. K. Rowling Stephen Hawking Mao Zedong Pablo Picasso Mahatma Gandhi Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Nicolaus Copernicus SNAKE CHARACTERISTICS Believed to be intuitive, strategic and intelligent possessing charm, and elegance but also materialistic LUNISOLAR CALENDAR Lunar month: Alternately 29 or 30 days, starts on day of new moon 12 lunar cycles equals approximately 354 days New moon Crescent Waxing Gibbous Full moon Gibbous Waning Crescent New moon Solar year Earth rotates around sun every 365.25 days Calendar believed to date to 14th century BCE 12 lunar months 12 lunar months 12+1 lunar months Leap month added every three years approx. (seven times in 19 years) New Year begins on second (or third) new moon after winter solstice Vernal equinox June solstice North Pole Axis of rotation Autumn equinox Shortest day in Northern Hemisphere Sun overhead of Tropic of Cancer Equator SUN Equator Tropic of Capricorn *New year occurs between Jan 21 and Feb 20 Source: TimeandDate © GRAPHIC NEWS