Thursday, January 5, 2012

Special year for 2012

Hello my raviolis.  It's a new year and 2012 is a special year. Can you guess what makes 2012 special?  What makes 2012 special is that it is a leap year.  A leap year or intercalary or bissextile year is a year containing one extra day.  This day falls on February 29th which gives an extra day making a total of 366 days for 2012.

The Mayan Calender has leap year days inserted into it.


This type of calendar is a solar calender.  It is based on the period of revolution of the Earth around the sun, which is approx. 365 days. 

A lunar calender is based on the phases of the moon.




The lunar calendar, used by the Muslims and the Incas, is based on the moon's cycles.  This type of calendar is based on the periodical cycles of the moon around the Earth, with each month lasting about 29 or 30 days.

Lunar - solar calendar.


This type of calendar features lunar months in to a solar year. The luni-solar year starts the new moon after the spring equinox. Normal luni-solar years have 12 months in a year. Luni-Solar Calendars are used by the Mongol Empire, which emphasizes balance and harmony between the sun ("Yang") and the moon ("Yin"). Also the Coptic, African, and the Aramaic Christians use the luni-solar calendar, so do the Jews.  Luni-solar calendars are also of great popularity among astronomers over the world, as they claim that this calendar type helps them calculate new moons, and when to hold seasonal events.

No matter what calendar you use, remember that you have an extra day of fun this year which also means I have one more day this year to love you all. 

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