theBeardsley t1_iydrsga wrote on November 30, 2022 at 5:27 PM Reply to ELI5 What is a leap year and why does it occur? by Own_Grapefruit8750 The Earth doesn't take exactly 365 days to orbit the sun, it's a bit closer to 365.25 days. So after four years, we have basically banked an extra day, and a leap year includes that extra day in the calendar to keep our calendar on track. Permalink 11
theBeardsley t1_iydrsga wrote
Reply to ELI5 What is a leap year and why does it occur? by Own_Grapefruit8750
The Earth doesn't take exactly 365 days to orbit the sun, it's a bit closer to 365.25 days. So after four years, we have basically banked an extra day, and a leap year includes that extra day in the calendar to keep our calendar on track.