A LEAP YEAR! (17)

1 Name: Anonymous : 2008-02-29 09:53 ID:Oauoq+Qa

This year is a leap year!

What do you plan to do with the extra day?

I will celebrate it for the rest of the year!

2 Name: Anonymous : 2008-02-29 12:58 ID:VQ8Bebdq

I had to work. Isn't it unfair that companies get one free day of work out of us?

3 Name: Anonymous : 2008-02-29 15:49 ID:dDlP+/ZA

i can't wait for 2/30!

4 Name: Anonymous : 2008-02-29 16:29 ID:hte4SI0a

>>2
I got the day off because I don't believe in leap years.
It goes against my religion.

5 Name: Anonymous : 2008-02-29 16:38 ID:Heaven

>>4
you don't believe in astronomy?

6 Name: Anonymous : 2008-02-29 19:01 ID:ama7aEGj

>>5
I don't believe in penise. Show me a penis and I believe in it.

7 Name: Anonymous : 2008-02-29 19:16 ID:N3oKGLT9

I'm trying to save my job! :D

8 Name: Anonymous : 2008-02-29 22:26 ID:dDlP+/ZA

>>6
nice pickup line

9 Name: Anonymous : 2008-03-01 00:55 ID:BvbpSj3k

>>8
Thanks. So far, I got one to shove it up my throat. :O

10 Name: Anonymous : 2008-03-01 05:45 ID:SfiGP/dN

I plan to leap!

11 Name: Anonymous : 2008-03-01 12:13 ID:Heaven

>>5
Astronomy doesn't cause leap years. The human desire to maintain order causes leap years.

12 Name: Anonymous : 2008-03-01 18:22 ID:Heaven

>>11

Blame the Sumerians.

Well, actually, they had a 360 day year, maybe it worked better than the Gregorian. Lol I know nothing about calendars.

13 Name: Anonymous : 2008-03-02 03:17 ID:cmfmsjxG

The Gregorian calendar attempts to keep the vernal equinox on or close to March 21; hence it follows the vernal equinox year. The average length of its year is 365.2425 days.

Among solar calendars in wide use today, the Persian calendar is one of the most precise. Rather than being based on numerical rules, the Persian year begins on the day (for the time zone of Tehran) on which the vernal equinox actually falls, as determined by precise astronomical computations.

No astronomical year has an integer number of days or lunar months, so any calendar that follows an astronomical year must have a system of intercalation such as leap years.

In the Julian calendar, the average length of a year was 365.25 days. (This is still used as a convenient time unit in astronomy as shown below.) In a non-leap year, there are 365 days, in a leap year there are 366 days. A leap year occurs every 4 years.

14 Name: Anonymous : 2008-03-02 14:18 ID:BnC/5eyc

question for smart peoples: why doesn't the difference between the astronomical year and the attempts to make it neat accumulate?
i.e. if the sidereal year is 365.256 days and the julian year is exactly 365.25, shouldn't the .006s add up?

15 Name: Anonymous : 2008-03-03 12:43 ID:VQ8Bebdq

Yes, they do add up, which is why new calendar systems are introduced which are more accurate.

16 Name: Anonymous : 2008-03-04 22:33 ID:Heaven

>>14
leap seconds

17 Name: I'M THE SMARTEST MAN ALIVE : 2008-03-05 23:23 ID:Heaven

>>16 not quite.

>>14 The sidereal year tracks the rotation of the Earth-Sun system among the stars, and isn't how we build calendars anymore. But you're right; the differences have added up over time, and as a result, everyone's astrological sign is "wrong", as the stars have each drifted to a different month than when you would have seen them a few thousand years ago.

As for the 365.2425-day year, well, that isn't exactly 365.25 either. We make up for that with the leap century, where years divisible by 100 don't have a February 29. And for extra accuracy, we suspend THAT rule every 400 years, which is why we had one for the year 2000.

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