Why 2024 is a leap year and meaning

Each four years, the calendar gives us an extra day: the 29 February, an addition that turns the year into leap. A phenomenon that raises Curiosity and questions about its origin and necessity. Behind this apparent anomaly are hidden scientific and historical reasons, woven through centuries of astronomical observations and calendar reforms.

We'll explain it to you first technically, then in money to get straight to the point!

Why does February 29th only exist every 4 years?

Il 29 February it only appears on our calendar every four years for a specific reason astronomical: compensate for the discrepancy between the duration of the solar year and that of the calendar year. Earth takes approx 365,24 days to complete its orbit around the Sun, leaving a surplus of nearly a quarter of a day per year.

Without the adjustment provided by the extra day, each year we would accumulate an error of about six hours, leading, after four years, to a gap of about 24 hours, or a full day. By entering the 29 February, we realign our calendar with the earth's natural cycle, keeping the count of time in balance.

What does science say?

The need for 29 February is based on precise astronomical calculations. The calendar Gregorian, which we use, was designed to reflect as closely as possible the solar year, the length of the Earth's complete cycle around the Sun.

But the solar year is not exactly 365 days, but approximately 365,24 days. Science, through astronomy, has highlighted this difference, underlining the need for a periodical to prevent our system of measuring time from significantly deviating from natural cycles, such as the seasons and astronomical phenomena, which are fundamental to agriculture , navigation and other human activities.

What does the story say? The origin of the leap year

The introduction of theleap year dates back to ancient Rome, with Julius Caesar and the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria who, in 46 BC, reformed the calendar by creating the Julian calendar. This system involved adding an extra day every four years to make up for the discrepancy between the calendar year and the solar year.

The reform of Gregorian calendar, which occurred in 1582 under PPope Gregory XIII, further refined this system, introducing more precise rules for entering the years leap year, thus ensuring that the calendar remained synchronized with the calendar year in the long term.

In a nutshell: what is the leap year for?

Imagine having a watch that every day it moves forward a little too much. After a while, you would completely find yourself out of sync with the real time. Well, our calendar is a bit like that clock.

Earth takes approx 365 days and 6 hours (365 days, 5 hours, 48 ​​minutes and 46 seconds) to make a complete revolution around the Sun, but if we always counted only 365 days, after a few years the seasons they would begin to no longer match with dates.

For "Re-align"our time with that of the Earth, every four years an extra day is added in February, creating theleap year. The stratagem helps us to compensate those extra hours that we don't count in other years, keeping ours calendar in line with the natural cycle of the planet.