There’s some science to February’s bonus day 💫⁣ ⁣

 

  There’s some science to February’s bonus day  :

⁣Every four years, during a leap year, the imperfect match between the length of a calendar year and Earth’s orbit result in an interesting calendar adjustment known as a leap day.⁣
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The length of a year is based on how long it takes a planet to revolve around the Sun. Earth takes about 365.2422 days to make one revolution around the Sun. That’s about six hours longer than the 365 days that we typically include in a calendar year. As a result, every four years we have about 24 extra hours that we add to the calendar at the end of February in the form of leap day.⁣
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Without leap day, the dates of annual events, such as equinoxes and solstices, would slowly shift to later in the year, changing the dates of each season. After only a century without leap day, summer wouldn’t start until mid-July!⁣
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Image description: The western hemisphere of the Blue Marble, created in 2002. North America is in view, as clouds frame the continent, as they swirl over a portion of South America that is viewable in-frame. Earth is surrounded by space.⁣
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Credit: NASA/TERRA-MODIS⁣
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#NASA #Space #LeapYear #LeapDay #Bonus #February #Special #Phenomena #Science

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01 March 2024