What exactly is “Leap Year?”

EYEWITNESS NEWS (WBRE/WYOU) — If you feel like the month of February is never-ending It may be because it’s one day longer this year.

Thursday is “Leap Day” but what is the reason behind it?

The month of February brings all different types of weather in NEPA. But it also holds a special day every four years, “Leap Day.”

The 29th day of the shortest month is here. But why is an extra day added?

“It is all about astronomy. It’s all about the Earth going around the sun and the fact that it’s not a whole number of days in a year,” said David Buckley, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at East Stroudsburg University.

ESU Professor of Physics and Astronomy David Buckley says it takes the Earth more than 365 days to orbit the sun, adding that extra day every four years.

“If we didn’t do this every century, we would lose something like 24 days and basically you would shift the seasons by a month per century,” Buckley added.

To many, it’s just an extra day, but for Jessica Gotay, it’s her birthday that she’s only got to celebrate a handful of times.

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“Well we usually celebrate it every 28th and I kinda do it all month long for my birthday. My family’s just like ‘Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday!’ throughout the whole month, so it’s really cool and exciting to actually finally get a birthday,” said Jessica Gotay, Wilkes-Barre.

Gotay turns 24 years old on Leap Day But technically speaking she’s only 6 years old.

She says while it’s only a day. It was a bit harder when growing up.

“It did get upsetting when I was younger because of course you don’t have a birthday every year and your family likes to tease you about it because you know it’s cool, it’s something different to have, but I’ve always celebrated my birthday every year,” Gotay continued.

The next Leap Year will take place in 2028.

And on behalf of everyone here at 28/22 News, we’d like to wish Jessica a very Happy Birthday!

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