2020 was faster than usual, broke record for shortest day 28 times: Scientists

The 28 fastest days on record all occurred in 2020, with Earth completing its rotations around its axis milliseconds quicker than average, scientists said.

The shortest day was July 19, when Earth completed one spin 1.4602 milliseconds faster than 86,400 seconds. Before 2020, the shortest day was noted on July 5, 2005, when the Earth’s rotation was 1.0516 milliseconds faster.

According to DNA, It is the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) that measures the length of a day officially.

Scientists at the IERS find out the exact speed of the planet’s rotation by measuring the precise moments a fixed star passes a certain location in the sky each day.