There is a nineteen-year recurrence in the apparent position of the sun and moon against the background of the stars, a pattern observed long ago by the Babylonians. In the course of those nineteen years the Earth experiences 235 lunar cycles. Suppose we calculate the ratio of Earth's period about the sun to the moon's period about Earth. That ratio has 235/19 as one of its early continued fraction convergents, which explains the apparent periodicity. Exploring Continued Fractions explains this and other recurrent phenomena-astronomical transits and conjunctions, lifecycles of cicadas,...
There is a nineteen-year recurrence in the apparent position of the sun and moon against the background of the stars, a pattern observed long ago by t...