The midpoint of this calendar year 2026 comes today, July 2, at 12 midday. (For anyone’s clock.)
This is what happens in common years. In leap years, such as 2024 and 2028, the midpoint comes at July 2, 0 (midnight, the beginning of that day).
It’s not immediately easy to “get the mind around” the logic of the rule, if the mind is as arithmetically slow as mine. This suggested a conundrum you might like to solve. Explain why there is no contradiction between these statements:
A. In a leap year, the midpoint is earlier in the middle day, by half a day, because the first half of the year is one day longer.
B. In a leap year, the midpoint is half a day later, because the year is one day longer.
I’ll allow some time for answers, then give mine.
Sometimes too hot to think
The Sun was farthest north on June 21, but the heat waves follow.
Once on my way back from a hitchhiking journey to Morocco I visited Robert Graves, who had settled in Mallorca. One of the things he said to me was: “You can’t go farther south than Mallorca to write; no one can write in the hot countries.”
He might have agreed to a fuller version: “It’s difficult for a North European person to be a writer while living in the hot countries.” He certainly knew of the mass of Arabic literature.
He told me that he himself, and the British royal family, were descended from the Prophet “Mahomet” because of Pedro of Córdoba, who married one of the Nasirids, who were the Muslim rulers of Granada.
Graves was a deeply learned scholar – it was amazing that he could survey so much literature while living so far from large libraries, before the age of the internet – but I think he had this a little garbled. Apparently he referred to a Castilian nobleman Pedro Venegas, also known as Pedro de Granada, who was born at Córdoba, was captured as a child, raised at the Nasrid court in Granada, and married a princess named Cetti Merien. Unfortunately, the Nasirids claimed descent not from the prophet but from one of his Companions; and any Islamic link to British royalty seems to be through Eleanor of Castile, not this Pedro.
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This weblog maintains its right to be about astronomy or anything under the sun.
Here in South Africa’s Western Cape, July is usually winter’s answer to the northern hemisphere’s summer heat. However, this winter is proving to be warmer (many days in the low to mid 60’s (12-18c) and drier. With the much cooler nights (low 40’s), morning fog has been a frequent visitor.
A very happy birthday (a day late). I enjoy all your posts and always forward them to others.
Enjoy the heat. Think of it as relaxing, like being wrapped in a big heating pad. Stay hydrated.
Been hot here too. Just when falling asleep last night, I was startled awake because it felt like a bug crawling on me. I opened my lantern so I could capture and throw the bug out the window but it was just some sweat rolling down. Hah!
A. The extra day being in the first half of the year is irrelevant. The whole year contains an extra day, so the first half of the year only contains an extra half day.
B. With an extra day, half the year contains an extra half day.
Well, not to worry. Under people like PM Starmer and the Labour government, England will soon enough become an Islamic Caliphate, and one imagines that the Royal Family will be eager enough to convert at that point. Still, it seems a shame that the nation that bought us the Magna Carta and English Common Law — not to mention nurturing the rise of the 13 Colonies and thence our own independent republic, as proclaimed some 250 years ago — would so easily abandon its own culture and way of life, but apparently whatever fight used to reside in Englishmen (and women) has long since dissipated.
Like the death of Western culture on a larger scale it’s all very sad.
Milt: Tommy-rot. (Old British expression.)
British and European culture are as lively as ever and are enriched by the added variety of talented and hard-working people from many backgrounds. Come over and see the colorful reality. If you have an accident, you’ll more likely than not be cared for by a doctor or nurse with an Islamic or Asian name.
Guy, I enjoyed both halves of this post – so, double thanks!
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I understand the answer, but I have a quibble about the way you phrased the question. A normal year has 365 days – an odd number – so there is a “middle” day. However, because a leap year has an even number of days (366), the meaning of “middle day” is unclear (if there were 3 days in a year, the second day would be the “middle day”…but if there were 4 days, which day is the “middle day”?) If you had said “date” in your formulation, it would have been less ambiguous, no?
I agree with Gary (and, I guess, in your formulation when accepted literally) because July 2nd is the “middle date” in a leap year, if not exactly the “middle day”…
Ah, thank you Gary, now that you’ve explained it, I get it. I was thinking the middle had to be July 2nd regardless!
Thanks; Robert Graves of ‘I, Claudius’ fame?
Love your article about the midpoint of the year! Yes, the two statements say the same thing from two different perspectives. Statement (A) addresses the reason why the midpoint occurs 12 hours earlier (midnight as opposed to 12 noon). Statement (B) addresses why the midpoint occurs a half day later because February 29 is added in a leap year. The common link is the time of day it occurs is 12 hours earlier even though the midpoint happens a calendar day later. It actually makes perfect sense to me and I think you explained it well in spite of your self criticism as being “arithmetically slow”.
I’ll allow some time for answers, then give mine.
I’m trying to understand how “B” can be true, much less not contradictory to “A”. Failing thus far, but I’ll get back to you, Guy, if I do figure it out! As always, thank you for enriching my life with your writing. There is no one like you!