Forget the Solstice: The real shortest day of your life might be coming this summer

Time of India

6 hours ago

We're used to hearing about the longest and shortest days of the year. But this summer could see a new record set. Scientists think that the Earth may be spinning faster than it ever has before, which could make one of these summer days the shortest ever. Earth is poised to break its own record for the shortest day soon.
When will the shortest day happen?
According to astrophysicist Graham Jones, who writes for timeanddate.com, a website that tracks time and time zones, our planet may complete the fastest spin on its axis ever recorded on July 9, 22, or August 5, surpassing the record set last year, as per a report by GIZMODO. Researchers are confused by an unexplained shift deep inside the planet.
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Why is the Earth spinning faster now?
The website claims that, among other things, when the Moon's orbit moves Earth considerably north or south of the equator, Earth rotates more quickly. Scientists use incredibly accurate atomic clocks to measure the length of a day (LOD) in milliseconds longer or shorter than 24 hours, or 86,400 seconds, so the difference in speed is negligible.
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The shortest recorded LOD has been produced annually since 2020. It was -1.05. In 2020, it was 1.05 ms less than 86,400 s. The current record was set last July 5th, when it came in at -1.66 ms. Because the Moon will be near its furthest point from the equator on July 9, 22, or August 5, scientists predict that these dates will have the
shortest day of the year
.
Will the shift affect our days in the long run?
Whether the record will be broken again by 2025's shortest LOD is still up in the air.
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Leonid Zotov, an Earth rotation specialist at the Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics, told timeanddate.com, "Nobody expected this." "This acceleration's cause is not explained," he continued.
The majority of scientists think it's an internal phenomenon. This enormous acceleration cannot be explained by ocean and atmospheric models.
Longer-term alterations include the Moon actually slowing down Earth's rotation for billions of years. One day on Earth lasted between three and six hours some 4.5 billion years ago. One of the factors at work is the Moon's tidal forces, which cause the oceans to swell up at specific times and the Earth to lose momentum.
Moon constantly absorbs a portion of the rotational energy from the Earth, which causes it to accelerate and expand its own orbit around the planet. This causes the Moon to move away from us by about 1.49 inches (3.78 centimeters) each year.
One day, the Earth's rotation and the Moon's orbital period will synchronize, allowing only half of our planet to always see the Moon (i.e., Earth will be tidally locked). According to Astronomy Magazine, this will occur in about 50 billion years, but it is unlikely to occur because Earth will most likely become uninhabitable long before then.
FAQs
How will the shorter day affect my daily life?
Not really, it's only a millisecond, too small to notice.
Why is the Earth suddenly spinning faster?
Scientists aren't certain, but they believe it's due to changes deep within the planet.