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One of the first things we learn as youngsters is how long a day and a year is. After all, birthdays wouldn’t make much sense without this basic understanding of time. And as you surely know, kids are all about birthdays.
Here on planet Earth, one day is roughly 24 hours in length and one year is roughly 365 days.
But the lengths of the days and years on other planets are vastly different than here on Earth. And in some cases, they are mind-bogglingly different.
It’s often said that Earth is the “Goldilocks planet”, revolving around the sun at just the right distance for the planet to be able to support life. And since we Earthlings are used to them, the lengths of our days and years seem to be just right as well.
But guess what? If you were to somehow be able to move to the planet Mercury you would have four “Mercury birthdays” every Earth year.
However, if you were to somehow move to one of the outer planets you would never have a birthday there (in that planet’s year) because a year there would last a LOT longer than a human’s lifespan.
See what I mean when I say the lengths of the days and years on other planets can be mind-boggling?
Bottom line: The length of a day and year differs greatly from one planet to the next. I’m happy to be living on planet Earth where a day and a year seem to be pretty much perfect.
To finish up, here’s a very interesting short video that puts all of the above into a better perspective. Watch, and enjoy…