--- title: Why Tuesday Will Include a Leap Second to Lengthen the Day description: 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. canonical: https://time.com/3939966/leap-second-earth-rotation/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-29T15:55:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:02:44.359Z article:section: Science og:title: Why Tuesday Will Include a Leap Second to Lengthen the Day og:description: 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. og:url: https://time.com/3939966/leap-second-earth-rotation/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Tuesday Will Include a Leap Second to Lengthen the Day twitter:description: 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. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Why Tomorrow is Going to Be One Second Longer than Today > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is TIME's weekly climate and energy newsletter, written by senior correspondent Justin Worland. It connects the energy transition to the decisions reshaping business, technology, policy and markets. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Jun 29, 2015 3:55 PM UTC by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Jun 29, 2015 3:55 PM UTC 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: --- > “” --- ### PHOTOS: This Astronaut's Images of Earth Look Like Beautiful Abstract Paintings  "Harsh land. Windswept valleys in northern #Africa"—Alexander Gerst via Twitter on July 6, 2014 Alexander Gerst—ESA  "Land use in South Africa, you can see where water is."—Alexander Gerst via Twitter on July 9, 2014. Alexander Gerst—ESA  "Irrigation in the #Sahara #Desert looks like a challenging task from up here... #BlueDot"—Alexander Gerst via Twitter on July 28, 2014 Alexander Gerst—ESA  "An open history book of our planet: the #Sahara Desert"—Alexander Gerst via Twitter on July 26, 2014 Alexander Gerst—ESA  "An open history book of our planet: the # Sahara Desert"—Alexander Gerst via Twitter on July 26, 2014 Alexander Gerst—ESA/SIPA USA  "Close-up of gigantic Salar of Uyuni in Bolivia. You can even see the salt fields and the 'Cactus Island'."—Alexander Gerst via Twitter on July 15, 2014. Alexander Gerst—ESA  "The #Moon was still behind the horizon. A #FataMorgana of atmospherical refraction #BlueDot"—Alexander Gerst via Twitter on July 14, 2014 Alexander Gerst—ESA/SIPA USA  "When I took this photo, I was sure these are clouds. But now I'm not so sure... #BlueDot"—Alexander Gerst via Twitter on July 7, 2014 Alexander Gerst—ESA  "Probably a river in Kazakhstan or slightly west of it."—Alexander Gerst via Twitter on July 29, 2014 Alexander Gerst—ESA/SIPA USA  "An open history book of our planet: the #Sahara Desert"—Alexander Gerst via Twitter on July 26, 2014 Alexander Gerst—ESA  "Human-made fires in East Africa. Can you spot them?"—Alexander Gerst via Twitter on July 9, 2014 Alexander Gerst—ESA ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3939966/leap-second-earth-rotation/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3939966/leap-second-earth-rotation/"},"headline":"Why Tomorrow is Going to Be One Second Longer than Today","datePublished":"2015-06-29T15:55:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:02:44.359Z","description":"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","url":"https://time.com/3939966/leap-second-earth-rotation/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3939966/leap-second-earth-rotation/","name":"Why Tomorrow is Going to Be One Second Longer than Today"}}]}] ```