Latest news with #atomicclocks
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Earth just had one of its shortest days in over 50 years
July 10, 2025 was the shortest day of this year, so far, as well as one of the shortest days the planet has seen since atomic clocks were invented. The odd thing is, we're not exactly sure why! The length of each day here on Earth, at 24 hours, is what's known as a solar day — the length of time it takes for planet to rotate around so that the Sun returns to the exact same position in the sky as the previous day. We define the length of day as equal to 86,400 seconds, and scientists track that timing, day by day, using extremely precise atomic clocks. There's one complication, though. Only rarely is each day actually 86,400 seconds long. The western hemisphere of Earth at night. (NASA's Earth Observatory) Due to a variety of factors, our days are usually a tiny bit shorter or longer, on the order of 1 or 2 thousandths of a second (a.k.a. a milliseconds). There are many things that influence Earth's rotation. Our distance from the Sun and the Moon's distance from Earth affect the tides, which can shorten or lengthen the day. The motions of Earth's core, mantle, and crust can do so as well. Even much more transient events, such as powerful hurricanes and earthquakes have their effects. Plus, we've already seen how changes in the mass of glaciers near Earth's poles can change the length of day. READ MORE: So far, the pattern doesn't really match up with anything specific, though. It could even be a combination of some, or even all of these things, but nobody knows for sure. And there is a pattern! Over a half century of records now, the shortest day of each year has occurred in June, July, or August. Meanwhile, the longest day has usually been sometime between March and May, but occasionally happened in October or November. There is even a shorter pattern of oscillations overlaid on top of that longer pattern, where the length of day swings back and forth between longer and shorter every 5-8 days or so. This graph of length of day (in milliseconds over (+) or under (-1) the average of 86,400,000 ms) shows the unusual pattern in the lengthening and shortening of our days here on Earth. The data represented, ranging from April 17 through July 14, 2025, is the latest data available from the IERS as of July 16. (Data from IERS) According to the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS), in 2025, the longest day of the year so far was Saturday, March 29, at 1.12 milliseconds longer than usual. The shortest day of the year, so far, was Thursday, July 10, at 1.37 milliseconds shorter than usual. That's not the shortest day in history. July 5, 2024 appears to hold that title, at least over the past half-century or so, at 1.66 ms shorter. However, based on the data presented by July 10, 2025 is the fifth shortest day, going back to 1973. This, in of itself, is rather odd. From 1973 through 2019, each year has seen an average length of day greater than usual, and the tally of all that 'extra time' at the end of each year has added up to anywhere from 100 to 1,100 milliseconds. In fact, this is the reason why we have introduced leap seconds into our calendar. So far, there have been 25 leap seconds added, either on June 30 or December 31 of any specific year. This happened when the total yearly differences in the actual time vs the standard time added up to around 1 second or more. Sometimes it took more than one year for that extra time to accumulate. However, since 2020, Earth has been spinning faster. The average length of day and the total yearly difference have both been negative for each year of the past 5 years, and also for 2025, so far. This table reveals how Earth's days have been getting shorterly in recent years. (Earth at night courtesy NASA's Earth Observatory. Data courtesy IERS via "Nobody expected this," Leonid Zotov, a leading authority on Earth's rotation at Moscow State University, told "The cause of this acceleration is not explained." According to Zotov, most researchers believe it may be something inside the Earth that is causing the days to get shorter right now. As for when this trend might reverse, Zotov has seen indictations, in both early 2024 and again in 2025, that the acceleration may be slowing. "I think we have reached the minimum," he told "Sooner or later, Earth will decelerate." Watch below: Why one planet in our solar systems spins 'backwards' — Out of this World Click here to view the video
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Why July 9 will likely be one of the shortest days in recorded history
The Brief July 9 is expected to be one of the shortest days in history, but you won't notice a difference. The Earth has been moving faster in recent years, and scientists aren't exactly sure why. Today could be the shortest day you've ever experienced – but it'll happen faster than the blink of an eye. Thanks to the moon's distance from the equator, July 9 could be as much as 1.30 milliseconds – or more – shorter than the usual 86,400 seconds, or 24 hours, in a day. By the numbers There are 86,400 seconds in a day (24 hours), "give or take a millisecond or so," astrophysicist Graham Jones wrote for TimeAndDate. That's how long it takes for Earth to make one full rotation on its axis. A millisecond is one-thousandth of a second. For context, the blink of an eye usually takes about 100 milliseconds. Jones says there's only one way to measure the millisecond variations for Earth's axis: atomic clocks. The number of milliseconds above or below 86,400 seconds is known as length of day (LOD). The backstory Since the dawn of time, Earth has been gradually rotating slower, which makes our days longer. According to LiveScience, 1 to 2 billion years ago, a day on Earth was 19 hours long. Before 2020, the shortest length of day variation measured by an atomic clock was -1.05 milliseconds – meaning the Earth rotated 1.05 milliseconds faster than 86,400 seconds. RELATED: See our neighboring Andromeda Galaxy in a whole new light Earth's been moving faster ever since. So far, the shortest day ever recorded was July 5, 2024, when Earth rotated 1.66 milliseconds faster than usual. This year, scientists predict three shorter days in July and August. On July 9, the day is expected to be 1.30 milliseconds shorter, followed by an even shorter -1.38 milliseconds on July 22 and a -1.51 milliseconds on Aug. 5. Dig deeper According to LiveScience, for those three days in July and August, the moon will be at its farthest distance from the equator. That changes the gravitational pull of Earth's axis. What they're saying "Think of the Earth as a spinning top — if you were to put your fingers around the middle and spin, it wouldn't rotate as quickly as if you were to hold it from the top and bottom," science writer Amy Arthur explained in LiveScience. Still, scientists are baffled as to why Earth has been accelerating in recent years. How fast Earth spins is dependent on a number of factors, including the motion of Earth's core, oceans and the atmosphere, TimeAndDate reports. Why you should care According to The Guardian, computers, servers, GPS systems, banking and utility networks all rely on extremely synchronized clocks. If the clocks are off by even a fraction of a billionth of a second, it could affect those systems. The Source This report includes information from TimeAndDate, LiveScience and The Guardian.
