Early Easter

Easter is the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring (Vernal) Equinox. The Spring Equinox for 2008 is March 20, 1:48 a.m. EDT. The Full "Worm" Moon is the next day, March 21st, at 2:40 p.m. So this early Easter is the following Sunday, the 23rd.

This dating of Easter is based on the Lunar calendar that Hebrews used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar. Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22) but that is even more rare.

1) The next time Easter will be this early, March 23, will be the year 2160. The last time it was this early was 1913.

2) The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285. The last time it was on March 22 was 1818.