Today will be the shortest day in over 90 years as the Earth’s rotation unexpectedly speeds up. Astronomers “found that three days this summer, July 9, July 22, and August 5, are expected to be between 1.3 and 1.51 milliseconds shorter than the standard day,” notes Whatfinger.
The London Daily Mail explained earlier that
Scientists have warned that Wednesday could be the shortest day of your life as Earth’s accelerating rotation is expected to move quicker than ever before.
They found that three days this summer, July 9, July 22, and August 5, are expected to be between 1.3 and 1.51 milliseconds shorter than the standard day.
This is because Earth’s rotation has sped up in recent years, with scientists observing the phenomenon on atomic clocks in 2020 and 2022.
These clocks are incredibly accurate machines that keep time by measuring the vibrations of atoms.
Although the exact reason is still a mystery, scientists believe there could be several factors that are making Earth spin faster, including changes in the atmosphere, the melting of glaciers, motion in the Earth’s core, and a weakening magnetic field.
Earth normally takes 24 hours, or exactly 86,400 seconds, to complete one full rotation, which is called a solar day.
The fastest day recorded so far was one year ago on July 5, 2024, when Earth spun 1.66 milliseconds faster than the standard 24 hours.
While today’s shortened day may seem insignificant, researchers have found that the time change can affect everything from satellite systems and GPS accuracy to how we measure time itself.
On the other hand, days are likely to get longer in future centuries as the moon drifts further away from the Earth, and thus exerts less pull on the Earth. Scientists predict Earth days could become 25 hours long as our moon drifts away.
In March, an ice-hunting robot landed sideways on the moon, dying and wasting millions of dollars.
128 new moons were recently found orbiting Saturn.
A British spacecraft recently captured up-close images of Mercury.
Last year, an Indian mission to the sun gathered information about the sun’s outer layers, using an array of instruments to measure and collect images of those layers. And a Chinese space probe to the far side of the moon returned to Earth with rare moon rocks.
A NASA spacecraft recently made the closest-ever approach to the sun to gather images of the sun’s outer layers.
A private lunar lander recently conducted experiments on the moon.
