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February 29 2020: THIS is why we have leap years
The year 2020 is the leap year, which means we will have 29 days in February this year. Read below to find out what is leap year and why we have 29 days in Feb.
When it comes to counting months, some months have 30 days in them, while some have 31 days in them. September, April, June and November have 30 days, whereas months like January, March, May, July, August, October, December. However, when it comes to February sometimes it has 28th days, while once in four years it has 29 days. The year when it has 29 days is known as a leap year. And 2020 is going to be a leap year and the total number of days will be 366 instead of 365.
However, have you ever wondered why we have leap years after every four years? If yes, then read below to find out more about leap year and why do we have it.
When it comes to the calendar, it's meant to answer the Earth's seasons. And for that to happen, the number of days in a calendar should match the time required by the Earth to orbit the Sun. As per Science, the time taken by Earth to complete its orbit around the Sun is 365.242 days. But we usually have only 365 days. And to adjust the extra 0.242 days in the orbital period, which becomes almost one full day in four years, the calendar adds an extra day once every four years.
It may seem inaccurate to many, but there are further adjustments made to the Gregorian calendar, which is followed by all of us. Initially, we followed the Julian calendar; however, it still did not accurately conform to the Earth’s precise orbit time, it kept falling behind concerning natural seasons over the centuries. That's when the Gregorian calendar was introduced and we have been following that since then.
As per the Gregorian calendar, a century year (a year ending with 00) is not a leap year, even though it is a multiple of 4. Thus, the year 2100 will not be a leap year. In the Gregorian calendar, leap years include those century years that are exactly divisible by 400. Thus, 2000 remained a leap year even though it ended with 00.
