The day before New Year 2017 will officially be one second longer for everyone on earth as a “leap second” will be added this year on Dec. 31 at 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds, Coordinated Universal Time, which is 6:59:59 p.m. EST.

What is a Leap Second?
All spatial objects including stars, planets, moons, asteroid and comets, demonstrate certain unique characteristics. Earth performs dual motions that include rotation (around one’s axis) and revolution (in one’s orbit). The Earth’s rotation is the key factor behind the concept of a leap second.

A leap second is the time added by the world’s timekeepers now and then, on either June 30 or Dec. 31. This event is necessary to keep clocks synchronised with the Earth’s consistently slowing rotation. It is a well-known fact that planet completes one full rotation in 24 hours, but in reality, it takes a little longer than that–86,400.002 seconds to be exact, noted Vox. Therefore, a leap second is added every few years to the world’s official clocks.

The concept of adding leap second was initiated in the year 1972. Since then the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) has been adding a leap second for the past 27 out of 44 years. The last time a leap second was inserted was on June 30, 2015.



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