Guest farnsbarns Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 That doesn't happen very often ya know.
pippy Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 I thought it happened every five or six years? P.
saturn Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 It's seems like just 4 years ago we also had it.
pfox14 Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 Where does the name "leap year" come from????
ShredAstaire Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 Happy birthday to the leap year babies.
saturn Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 Where does the name "leap year" come from???? I don't know where the term "leap" came from. I do know it's because a day is really about 24 1/4 hours long, not a perfect 24 hours. Every 4 years the calender would get off by 1 day and after many years the months would begin to drift into the opposite climates. And because it really isn't a a full 1/4 day difference, there is no leap year on dates divisible by 400, hence there was no leap year in the year 2000. I hope I got that right without using a Google search. \:D/ Maybe Rocketman could fact-check me. ;)
ShredAstaire Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 My guess is that since we add a day to the year every 4 years to "leap" or catch up with time?
Elmer Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 My guess is that since we add a day to the year every 4 years to "leap" or catch up with time? correct! each four year we need to add an extra day to keep time running correct with the full rotation of the earth/24h. btw: good you mention this...my mate who lives a few houses away from me has his birthday (HE BECOMES 12) ... 48 :)
Guest farnsbarns Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 I don't know where the term "leap" came from. I do know it's because a day is really about 24 1/4 hours long, not a perfect 24 hours. Every 4 years the calender would get off by 1 day and after many years the months would begin to drift into the opposite climates. And because it really isn't a a full 1/4 day difference, there is no leap year on dates divisible by 400, hence there was no leap year in the year 2000. I hope I got that right without using a Google search. \:D/ Maybe Rocketman could fact-check me. ;) Nope, :P Each year is 365.25 days long so every 4th year we have one day to make up. You're quite right about missing leap years when there would be one but the year is divisible by 400, that's because even 365.25 is not acurate so that needs correcting as well but it has nothing to do with the length of a day. Besides, if every day were a quarter of an hour longer that would make 365 x 0.25 which is 91.25 hours out every year, that's nearly 4 days. Interestingly, no two days are the same length, they vary by up to around a second and every few months or so the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service adds or removes a second from a day so that UTC is kept in sync with solar reference or astronomical time. The next leap second will be 30 June, don't forget to put your clocks back!
davidl Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 My grandmother would have been around 25 today.
saturn Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 Nope, :P Each year is 365.25 days long so every 4th year we have one day to make up. You're quite right about missing leap years when there would be one but the year is divisible by 400, that's because even 365.25 is not acurate so that needs correcting as well but it has nothing to do with the length of a day. Besides, if every day were a quarter of an hour longer that would make 365 x 0.25 which is 91.25 hours out every year, that's nearly 4 days. Interestingly, no two days are the same length, they vary by up to around a second and every few months or so the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service adds or removes a second from a day so that UTC is kept in sync with solar reference or astronomical time. The next leap second will be 30 June, don't forget to put your clocks back! Thank you. If I would have actually thought a little bit more I would have realized my mistake. That's what I get for posting hastily, but at least I did cover myself a little.
EVOL! Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 Didn't the sun rise two days early in Northern Greenland last year?
D-poland Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 correct! btw: good you mention this...my mate who lives a few houses away from me has his birthday (HE BECOMES 12) ... 48 :) I'am sure there are a lot of women with this birthday!?
DanvillRob Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 All that is not the whole story..... leap year is every 4 years....EXCEPT if the year is divisible by 100, (as was the year 2000), those years art not leap years, so sometimes there are 8 years between leap years!
DanvillRob Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 My grandmother would have been around 25 today. Your grandmother would probably be only 24!
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