Lately for me, the concept of "New Years" has begun to mean less and less to me. Now, I'm not speaking from a practical point-of-view such as "Well, it's just another year who cares," (which is another view I subscribe to, but that isn't the point of this argument) but rather from a technical point-of-view. From this perspective, I see that society's general perception of a "year" is closely tied to an arbitrary set of rules known as the calendar year, a man-made system of measurement and organization that tries to mirror the movements of celestial bodies. This is in contrast to an astronomical year, which is (very loose definition) the time that elapses while the Earth completes one revolution of orbit around the Sun.

Of the two "years" mentioned above, only one of those is scientifically real: While the definition of a calendar year only exists in our minds or on paper, the definition of an astronomical year is backed by the physically occurring event of the Earth revolving around the Sun. This is analagous to my views on how the "law" and how physics view speeding in an automobile. The law, a physically intangible idea, says not to speed or you are breaking the law. Physics, however, says not to speed or you have a greater chance of losing control of your vehicle, potentially resulting in causing the death of yourself or others.

While putting together evidence to refute the "New Year" traditionally beginning on January 1st, I composed my argument that there is physical "starting line" for where a year begins, since the only evidence for our currently accepted transition point of January 1st is, well, it's January 1st. If the year is only the duration of an orbit, then the "start" and "end" of the year is only the furthermost points of the duration. With this logic, two conclusions can be reached:

• As a measure of revolutions around the sun, a year can start or end anywhere, so long as the endpoints do not exceed or cut short the duration of the orbit.
• As a measure of time, a year can (and does) begin or end at any given moment.

However, looking to better understand the astronomical year was a complicated affair, leading me through various articles of celestial activity and human systems of measurement. Join me as I attempt to weed the physical from the non-physical!