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Year Start and Leap Logic

Gordon edited this page Dec 20, 2025 · 4 revisions

Year Start & Leap Logic

Year Start

The Light Calendar year begins at the midpoint between the preceding Winter Solstice and the following March Equinox. This midpoint represents the natural transition from decreasing to increasing daylight.

For calendrical use, this moment is floored to midnight UTC. The resulting date defines 1 New February (1. Neufebruar) as the first day of the Light Year.

This definition is purely astronomical and does not rely on inherited civil conventions.


Leap Logic

A Light Year is considered a leap year when the interval between two consecutive year starts spans 366 civil days rather than 365. In such years, an additional day is inserted at the end of the year, in New January.

Leap years therefore arise directly from the actual solar cycle. No fixed arithmetic rule comparable to the Gregorian 4/100/400 system is imposed; the leap pattern follows the natural variation of the tropical year.


Scope

This year-start and leap logic ensures that the Light Calendar remains aligned with real solar mechanics while maintaining a simple, continuous civil structure. The result is a calendar whose year length adapts to astronomy rather than forcing astronomy to conform to convention.

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