how long is a solar year? This is in reference to the movie "Flight of the Navigator". One of my favorites.

Question

In the movie davids brain responds to how long he was gone through the nasa computers. 2.2 solar hours or 4 hours i think. just wanted to confirm.

Answer 1

A solar year, technically known as the tropical year, is approximately 365.2422 days. Is is the time for the Earth to complete one orbit of the Sun, from one vernal equinox to the next. It is the length of the cycle of the seasons on Earth.

A solar day is 24 hours exactly. It is the average time for Earth to complete one rotation on its axis with respect to the Sun. A sidereal day is 23h 56m 4s, the time for Earth to complete one rotation with respect to the Stars. It is different from a solar day because as Earth orbits the Sun it has to turn about 1 degree more to bring the Sun back to the same place in the sky than it does for the stars. Another way to look at it is that the Sun is slowly drifting against the background of stars, because of the Earth's orbital motion, so it matters which astronomical object you are watching as you set your clock, the Sun or a star.

Answer 2

as long as a country mile