What are Years... and the Galactic Supermassive Black Hole!

The video explores the concept of a year, defining it as the time it takes for one body to orbit another. It explains different types of Earth years: tropical, sidereal, and anomalistic, each with slightly different lengths. The civil calendar aligns with the tropical year due to its relation to Earth's axial tilt and seasons. The video also discusses non-Earth years, such as Mercury's and Neptune's, and introduces the galactic year, the time for the solar system to orbit the Milky Way. It highlights the short orbits of stars around the Milky Way's central black hole, used to measure its mass.

What is a tropical year and how is it defined?

Explain the difference between a sidereal year and an anomalistic year.

How does the Earth's tilt affect the civil calendar?

What is the duration of Mercury's year compared to Earth's year?

Describe the concept of a galactic year and its approximate duration.