It was never exactly 24 hours: scientists reveal that the length of days on Earth has stopped increasing

Photo: Reproduction

The rotation of the Earth has always been a subject of interest to human beings and different civilizations have pointed out how this happened, either through observations or through religiosity.

In the Middle Ages, for example, people believed in geocentrism, that is, that all the stars revolved around the Earth. This changed with Nicolaus Copernicus, who showed that the Earth revolves around the Sun.

Today, scientists can closely monitor this movement, as it influences the lives of all humanity.

One of these studies sought to understand how long it took for the rotation of the planet It actually happens. Did you know that a day on Earth currently lasts exactly 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.1 seconds?

If this number seems strange to you, know that the Earth’s rotation time, which determines the length of the days, has not always been measured in the same way that we know it today.

Yes! The days were shorter in the Earth and lengthened as time passed. Find out how this happened below.

Days on Earth lasted 19 hours

Image: Reproduction

According to scientists, billions of years ago the Earth’s rotation occurred in a much shorter period. According to the study published in Nature Geoscienceapproximately 2 to 1 billion years ago, the Earth’s rotation time was around 19 hours.

This predates the emergence of cellular life on Earth. Therefore, to detect this information, scientists used the life cycles Milankovitch in the orbit of the planet. According to the study’s author, Uwe Kirscher:

“Two Milankovitch cycles, precession and obliquity, are related to the wobble and tilt of the Earth’s rotation axis in space. The faster rotation of the early Earth can therefore be detected in shorter precession and obliquity cycles in the past.“

However, the day/night period has changed over the centuries due to the influence of the Moon on the Earth’s orbit. As a result, days have become closer to the 24 hours we know today.

Through the gravitational interactions that occur between the Earth and its satellite, the Moonthe Earth’s rotation speed gradually decreases and thus the days lengthen.

However, the question remains: will the days continue to increase?

Will we have 25-hour days on Earth?

A study published in the journal Nature Geoscience revealed that there was a moment in the history of our planet when the days stopped lengthening.

The Earth interaction phenomenon causes the Moon to move away from our planet while reducing the speed at which it completes its rotation.

Even so, the study revealed that the time of rotation of the earth will not last longer than we know it. So, there will most likely not be 25-hour days around here — at least not anytime soon.