[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by DSTMystique

5. What's the purpose of a "leap year"?

In reality, it takes the Earth 365 ¼ days to rotate around the sun. The leap year, which occurs every 4 years, adds on that full extra day to the end of February. If this extra day was ignored, eventually, the seasonal and astronomical years would no longer “line up” with the calendar year. This way, January won’t eventually become the month where everyone’s at the beach, and we won’t be shoveling snow in July.

Hope that answers your question!