What Feb 29th does

gkell1

Perhaps readers here would enjoy how the original calendar system meshes with the Earth's daily and orbital motions as a near enough fit based on the principle that there are 365 1/4 rotations in 365 1/4 days as a balance with one orbital circuit of the Earth.As one 24 hour rotation corresponds to one day/night cycle and is one of the most fundamental facts, most readers do not think through the system where each component meshes with another to give a smooth progression of days and years even though they rely on this system forged in antiquity by very careful people.

The story of the current cycle began on Mar 1st 2008 when daily rotation and orbital motion started in sync,as the orbital cycle of the Earth around the Sun is 365 days 5 hours 49 minutes,the orbital cycle ended at roughly 6 AM Mar 1st 2009 whereupon a new orbital cycle of 365 1/4 days began and ended at 12 noon Mar 1st 2010,As there are 365 days and rotations between Mar 1st and Feb 28th each year,the orbital cycle drifts ahead through Mar 1st each non-leap year in increments of 6 hours so that by Mar 1st 2011,the orbital cycle will be ahead and out of sync with daily rotation by a full 18 hours in ending at 6 PM Mar 1st 2011.The magic of the 24 hour Feb 29th rotation is that the orbital motion of the Earth would drift the remaining 6 hours towards Mar 2nd 2012 but as the additional Feb 29th rotation intervenes,it covers the remaining 6 hours orbital drift to 24 hours that is happening in Mar 1st each non-leap year and resets the whole system back to Mar 1st 2012 where a new cycle begins where everything starts back in sync.

Contemporaries unfortunately dispute this explanation even though there is nothing unduly difficult in affirming how our astronomical ancestors split the daily and annual cycles apart,even without knowing anything of the planetary dynamics behind these things,and then rejoining them with an extra day.