Leap Seconds facts
While investigating facts about Leap Seconds List and Leap Seconds 2019, I found out little known, but curios details like:
Due to the inclusion of a leap day and two leap seconds, 1972 is the longest year in history.
how many seconds in a leap year?
A bridge in Scotland is known for Dog Suicides. Since 1950, 600+ dogs have mysteriously leaped over the edge, roughly 50 have died. The reasons range from piss to the paranormal, the actual reason remains unknown. Reportedly, some dogs have even climbed back up for a second go.
Leap seconds what if?
In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across answering what to do with leap seconds. Here are 39 of the best facts about Leap Seconds Gps and Leap Seconds Since 1970 I managed to collect.
what are leap seconds?
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The longest year so far was 1972. Being a leap year containing two leap seconds it lasted 31 622 402 seconds.
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Since first being implemented in 1972, there have been 27 "leap seconds" inserted into global timekeeping to account for irregularities in the Earth's rate of rotation, most recently on December 31, 2016
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The Moon’s orbit is spiraling away from Earth at a rate of nearly 1.5 inches (4 cm) per year. In response, Earth’s rotation rate is slowly slowing, necessitating a Leap Second to be added to the calendar, every now and then.
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GPS time does not account for the so called leap second
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We need leap years because it takes Earth 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds to orbit the sun, causing the calender year to become more and more out of synce with the solar year over time. If we didn't have leap days, Feb 2016 would be July 2017.
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Since 1972, and extra 'leap-second' has been added 25 times - in order to account for Earth's (extremely small) rotational slowdown.
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There will be a leap second this year. Glad we can enjoy the wackiness of 2016 for one moment longer.
Why are there leap seconds?
You can easily fact check why do we have leap seconds by examining the linked well-known sources.
We may not have a recurring leap year every 4 years by the year 3200. This is because the tropical year is decreasing at a rate of 0.53 seconds per century, and the length of a solar day is getting longer at a rate of 1.5 milliseconds per century. - source
In 2012 the leap second (that's happening tonight) took down Yelp, LinkedIn, FourSquare and Gawker because of the 61 second minute - source
Every year or two we go through a 'Leap Second' and the next one takes place when this post is 12 hours old.
When are leap seconds added?
Wilt Chamberlain May Have Been The Greatest Athlete Of All Time. The Man Could Bench Press Up To 600 LBS, As Well As His Video Game Like 54 Inch Standing Vertical Leap, & The Time He Beat His Friend Jim Brown In A Foot Race With A 4.4 Second Hand Timed 40 Yard Dash.
How many seconds are there in a leap year?
Earth has a second "moon" This celestial body is a small Quasi-Satellite in a stable "leap frog" like orbit, just outside the range to be considered a "true" satellite!
In addition to a leap day added every four years, there are also two optional leap seconds every year to fine-tune the 24 hour day (since 1972).
Today, June 30, 2015, will receive a "Leap Second" at the end of the day so that clocks can account for the irregularity of Earth's rotation. As a result, today will be 1 second longer than any other day this year.
Since 1972, there have been 27 leap seconds, an adjustment used because of irregularities in Earth's rotation.
