Is 2020 a leap year?

New Delhi, Jan 04: 2020 is a leap year! This year will have an extra day-February 29, a date that appears on calendars once every four or sometimes eight years.

According to the Gregorian calendar, adding an extra day every four years keeps our calendar aligned with the astronomical seasons. Without which, our calendar would gradually get out of sync.

Due to this extra day, a leap year has 366 days instead of 365.

What is a leap year?

A leap year is one which has an extra day in the month of February and comes every four years. It occurs because of the solar system's disparity with the Gregorian calendar.

The earth takes 365.2422 days to complete an orbit around the sun while the Gregorian calendar uses 365 days. Hence leaps seconds and leap years come into effect to keep the clocks (and calendars) adjusted to the earth and its seasons.

How to caculate leap year

To calculate a leap year, one has to divide the year number by four. If it is completely divisible, then it is a leap year.

Why February has lesser number of days?

All months in the Julian calendar have 30 or 31 days except February, which normally has 28 days. However, February had 30 days and the month named after him (July) had 31.

August then had 29 days but Augustus Caeser, Julius's successor, added two days to that to make August same as July. February lost its two days to August.

What if a person is born in a leap year?

Usually, people who are born on February 29 are called 'leaplings' or 'leapers'.

People choose to celebrate their birthday on either February 28 or March 1 while others stick to February 29 for the occasion, i.e., that birthday comes after every four years.