Presented By

For all those who wish there were more time in the day, your prayers have been answered.

On Tuesday, June 30, the Earth will get a bonus second as a way to compensate for the gradual slowing down of the Earth’s rotation: at 8 p.m., Eastern time, the entire planet will relax for one extra second longer. Instead of the customary, 86,400-second Earth rotation, Tuesday will make the day 86,401 seconds long.

The last time we had a ‘leap second,” TIME explained why:

 

More Must-Reads From TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com.

You May Also Like
EDIT POST