The draconic year, draconitic year, eclipse year, or ecliptic year is the time taken for the Sun (as seen from the Earth) to complete one revolution with respect to the same lunar node (a point where the Moon's orbit intersects the ecliptic). The year is associated with eclipses: these occur only when both the Sun and the Moon are near these nodes; so eclipses occur within about a month of every half eclipse year. Hence there are two eclipse seasons every eclipse year. The average duration of the eclipse year is
346.620075883 days (346 d 14 h 52 min 54 s) (at the epoch J2000.0).
A draconic year is a unit of time used in astronomy and astrology, representing the time it takes for the moon to return to the same position in its orbit relative to the same star, which is approximately 27.212 days.
A draconic year is shorter than a solar year, which is the time it takes for the Earth to complete one orbit around the sun. A solar year is approximately 365.24 days, making it about 13 times longer than a draconic year.
The term "draconic" comes from the Greek word "drakon," meaning dragon. In ancient times, the lunar nodes (the points where the moon's orbit intersects with the ecliptic) were thought to resemble the head and tail of a dragon, and the draconic year was used to track the moon's movement through these points.
In astrology, the draconic year is used to calculate the moon's position in relation to the lunar nodes at the time of a person's birth. This is believed to give insight into a person's soul and spiritual path.
Yes, the draconic year is also used to predict eclipses. Since the lunar nodes are involved in eclipses, tracking the moon's position in relation to them using the draconic year can help predict when eclipses will occur.