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xkcd #2897: Light Leap Years (imgs.xkcd.com)

submitted 8 months ago by randomaccount43543@lemmy.world to c/xkcd@lemmy.world

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https://xkcd.com/2897

Alt text:

When Pope Gregory XIII briefly shortened the light-year in 1582, it led to navigational chaos and the loss of several Papal starships.

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[–] callyral@pawb.social 10 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

idk, it feels more intuitive for it to be based on the mode (most common) year length (365) instead of the average year length (365.2425).

[–] MBM@lemmings.world 27 points 8 months ago

The boring answer is that in physics a year is just defined as the time it takes for the Earth to orbit the sun, they don't care about calendars and leap years