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Today is Leap Day!
It takes the earth 23 hours and 56 minutes to rotate and 365 days, five hours, 48 minutes and 45 seconds to orbit the sun.
So, our days are technically shorter than 24 hours and our years are about 6 hours longer than 365 days.
When you do the math, over 23 extra hours accumulate in 4 years, which is why we have leap years.
An “extra” day is added to the shortest month of the year to align our calendar with the Earth’s position in relativity to the sun.
Without the added day, our seasons would seemingly occur later over time.
The next leap day will be Thursday, February 29, 2024.
Happy Leap Day!
