Facts to know about leap year

The average time between two successive vernal equinoxes (when the sun is directly over the equator) is called a tropical year, and it is about 365.2422 days long. By using a calendar with only 365 days each year an error of 0.2422 days or almost 6 hours per year would occur. After 100 years, the calendar would be more than 24 days ahead of the seasons ‘ not at all acceptable.

By adding an extra day to February, the month with the shortest number of days in the common calendar (calendar without a leap year), everything can be adjusted as closely as possible to the seasons. Leap years are typically inserted every fourth year and follow these three rules:

1. Every year divisible by four is a leap year.

2. Every year divisible by 100 is NOT a leap year.

3. Unless the year is also divisible by 400, then it is still a leap year. This year, 2008, is a leap year.