Julian year (astronomy)
So, you know how we measure time with seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years, right? Well, a Julian year is a special kind of year that astronomers use to measure how long it takes for the Earth to go all the way around the sun.
Now, think about when you go on a merry-go-round at a playground. You go in circles around and around, and it takes some time to make one full circle. The same is true for the Earth going around the sun. It takes about 365.25 days for the Earth to make one full circle around the sun.
But wait, what about that .25? That means every four years, there's an extra day added to our calendar. This is called a leap year, and it keeps our calendar synced up with the time it takes for the Earth to go around the sun. When we add up all the days in a year, there are actually 365.2425 days in a year, which is pretty close to 365.25.
A Julian year is exactly 365.25 days, without any extra leap years. Astronomers use it because it's a nice round number, and it makes it easier to do some calculations. But since it doesn't match up exactly with our calendar, we don't use Julian years in our everyday lives. We stick with our regular years and leap years to keep everything on track!
Now, think about when you go on a merry-go-round at a playground. You go in circles around and around, and it takes some time to make one full circle. The same is true for the Earth going around the sun. It takes about 365.25 days for the Earth to make one full circle around the sun.
But wait, what about that .25? That means every four years, there's an extra day added to our calendar. This is called a leap year, and it keeps our calendar synced up with the time it takes for the Earth to go around the sun. When we add up all the days in a year, there are actually 365.2425 days in a year, which is pretty close to 365.25.
A Julian year is exactly 365.25 days, without any extra leap years. Astronomers use it because it's a nice round number, and it makes it easier to do some calculations. But since it doesn't match up exactly with our calendar, we don't use Julian years in our everyday lives. We stick with our regular years and leap years to keep everything on track!