5… 4…3…2… You’re late.

Just a tad, though, so enjoy a glass of fine champagne while perusing this tidbit.

Calling Salvador Dali an “undercover physicist” would not be bizarre. His expression of time as skewed clocks in The Persistence of Memory loosely correlates with Albert Einstein’s views of the relativity of time. Indeed, time is skewed and relative.

1 year = 365 days = Earth’s orbit around the sun’s gravitational point

1 day = 24 hours = Earth’s rotation around its axis

These universally followed calculations make our lives easier.

Actually, the earth’s period is roughly 365.25 days.

No flipping way you say?

Yup, I do say. Well, astrophysicists say.

The extra 6 hours each year is made up for with an extra day in the leap year.

(Cue: Time to replenish your bubbly)

Time is essentially measured either by the position of the stars (sidereal) or sun (solar).

The time of a solar day changes throughout the year. However, the time of a sidereal day relatively stays the same.

The mean solar day = 24 hours

The apparent solar day = +/- 24 hours

The mean sidereal day = 23 hours 56 minutes 4.0916 seconds

            # of solar days = 365.25

            # of sidereal days = 366.25

Our clocks are based on mean solar time, so they are not completely accurate. They could be off by 16 minutes, 4 minutes, or anything else depending on various factors- dynamics which influence the earth’s rotation and elliptical orbit. Solar time is roughly 4 minutes longer than sidereal time. Whichever method you wish to observe time, note that it is not exact and it’s relative (Einstein wink).

Time moves backward for no one despite memories of times lived. This New Year’s Eve, if you miss that 12:00 AM champagne toast, no worries. Just buy some time by setting your watch to mean sidereal time.

Bottom Line: 

Time is precious. Use it wisely, set it forward, and be happy. Cheers!