|
|
|
|
| A Year |
A Year
The sidereal year is the time taken for the earth to return to the same position in the universe with respect to the stars of the celestial sphere. It is the orbital period of Earth, equal to 365.25636042 solar days or 365.25636042 earth rotations or sidereal days.
A tropical year or the solar year is the length of time the Sun, as seen from the Earth, takes to return to the same position along the ecliptic. A tropical year is shorter than a sidereal year and in 2000, the difference between the two was 20.409 minutes.
The difference in the duration of the sidereal year and the solar is caused by the precession of the equinoxes as a result of which one sidereal year is approximately equal to 1 + 1/26000 or 1.000039 tropical years.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|