Patek Philippe

- does full moon cover 2 days on Patek watches?
(I doubt that ;-)

I went to PP web site and check moon -phase setting for two watches (5135 and 5146) for Jan 2007

I found it interesting that when you set their web site calendar to 3rd and 6th of Jan 2007,
the moon is just about clearing the moon-phase aperture on the left (Jan 3rd) and right (Jan 6th).

However it is in the same position (dead center) for 2 full days - Jan 4th and 5th.

BUT !!.....Full moon for Jan 2007 -  is on Jan 3rd !!

First of all - I am pretty sure that "Full Moon" is only one day of the month.
Secondly - do you guys have any explanation why PP web calculator for moon-phase would be
motionless for 2 full days - I doubt that the moon disc in their watches is ;-)

...and finally - since according to several sources, Full Moon for Jan 2007 is on Jan 3rd...it is probably better
not to pay much attention to PP web site when it comes to moon-phase.

When should I reset my watch to full moon? As I recall PP moon phase changes on most
watches at about noon - should I make the re-set / correction ..let's say about 3 - 4PM on Jan 3rd ??

TIA.

....I've to admit I didn't check the new website's moonphase calculator before.
The old website calculator was abit problematic as well - at certain times even  completely wrong.

I'm not sure where's the problem, perhaps they tried to make  it more user friendly  in some way , but I'm only guessing here. I'll check what may be the reason behind it.

I'm by far not informed about astronomy, but I'd say full moon is only a "moment"  (I  guess mathematically speaking infinetely  short moment :-) ).
So  making it two full days of  course isn't astronomically correct anyway. 

Also it may not be considered the best method trying to set it by visual control - specifically at full moon. It may be much easier to set it  to (as precise as possible) new moon and then advance as many increments as required from there (that's a ususally given indication in astronomic calendars, xx days form new moon).

Here's a nice website if  you'd like some more precise information on that matter:

Moon phase website

Hope that helps
Best regards
Suitbert  

Just one more quick question.....is it the best to compare the moon-phase setting of your PP watch in PM or AM (as I believe the change happens at about noon )

M.

is my "Mondphasen tabelle fur MEZ"  ( Central European Time) booklet  that came with my Lange 1 Moonphase watch. It lists the full moon and new moon dates and times  from 2002 to 2049, and it tells you that for example the full moon for January 3, 2007 happens on 14:58 central european time, new moon on Jan 19, 2007 at 05:01 etc. That's how I set my moonphase watches, so living in Los Angeles I add 9 hours to that time and than I set the full moon/ new moon display.
Carl

I use a table from the Belgium Sterrenwacht, as this is closest to where I live in the Netherlands.  For "Lunation" 1039 they give a Full Moon at 14h57 on Jan 3 2007. Please bear in mind that the 5046 (possibly all other PP annual calenders) changes moon phase between 9 and 11 am.
Regards,
Arno.

just checked the link I provided and saw it  wasn't the one I wanted to post, here's the correct one:

Moon Phase Calculator

It's a more practical site, you can adjust for time and longitude/latitude as well - nice toy :-)

Re. setting of the monphase, I think it's said already but IIRC it's correct that moonphase is switching/engaged around noon - so this should be avoided for setting of course.

Best regards

Suitbert