- A year (from Old English gēar) is the orbital period of the Earth moving around the Sun.
- The Earth actually takes 365.24219 days to orbit the Sun. This is called a solar year.
- The lunar year comprises twelve full cycles of the phases of the Moon, as seen from Earth. It has a duration of approximately 354.37 days.
- Measured by the stars not the Sun, Earth takes 365.25636 days to go round the Sun, because the Sun also moves a little relative to the stars. This is called the sidereal year.
- There is no universally accepted symbol for the year as a unit of time. The International System of Units does not propose one. A common abbreviation in international use is a (for Latin annus), in English also y or yr.
- The planet with the shortest year is Mercury, which whizzes around the Sun in just 88 days.
- The planet with the longest year is Pluto, which takes 249 years to orbit the Sun.
- Derived from Latin annus are a number of English words, such as annual, annuity anniversary etc.; per annum means "yearly".
- The planet with the year closest to Earth’s in length is Venus, whose year lasts 225 days.
- In astronomy, the Julian year is a unit of time, defined as 365.25 days of 86,400 SI seconds each.
- We get our year from the time the Sun takes to return to the same height in the sky at noon.
Interesting facts about the Year
