World Renews Shortest Day Record

In recent years, scientists have moved the Earth on its axis faster than ever before in the last 50 years. returned, therefore a day is now less than 24 hours He stated that it was completed in a short time. At the same time, scientists determined that on July 19, 2020, the day lasted exactly 1.4602 milliseconds shorter than 24 hours.

In recent years, the speed of Earth’s rotation has increased even more and the days are getting shorter and shorter. A new one has been added to the record broken in 2020 and June 29, this summer shortest day ever was recorded as. This, due to a wobble in the Earth’s axis, caused the Earth to complete a single rotation in less than 24 hours.

It may be necessary to subtract a second from atomic clocks

The rotation we experience on Earth as day and night is not always exactly in line with its axis, the line between the North and South Poles. The biggest reason for this is that the Earth is not in the form of a net sphere, that is, it is in the form of a geoid. At the same time, the oceans many factors, including tides and gravity It may also have disrupted the Earth’s rotational speed.

Due to the largest rotational velocity distortion experienced on June 29, the Earth was swept away from 86,400 seconds and to be exact. 1.59 milliseconds less than 24 hours It broke the record for the shortest day. If the world continues to accelerate in this way, it may be necessary to subtract a second from atomic clocks. That is, before the clock resets at 00:00:00 from 23:59:59 to 23:59:60 clock may pass or if negative leap seconds occur from 23:59:58 it can go directly to 00:00:00.

So what is the Chandler Yaw that causes us to have shorter days?

American astronomer Seth Carlo Chandler discovered in the late 1800s as a result of a shaking change in Earth’s rotation around its axis Chandler wobble is called. There are many theories about the cause and effect of wobble. Some think that tides and the earth’s liquid interior play a role, while others think it’s due to steady winds in the oceans suddenly pushing varying amounts of water across the earth, and even massive earthquakes.

Most people are not affected by the Chandler Yaw, but the wobble does affect astronomical phenomena, from the ability of telescopes to accurately point a star to celestial navigation.