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Planets orbit the Sun while moons orbit around planets. The amount of time required for a planet or moon to complete one orbit around another body is called an orbital period. On Earth, we call this orbital period a year. Our year is 365.256 days. On Mars it takes 686.98 days (Earth days, that is) to complete one orbit about the Sun--that's a long time to wait between birthdays!
Which is why the period of rotation is not 24 hours. The earth spins around its axis. This spinning makes the sun appear to move from east to west across the sky. It takes 23 hours 56 minutes and 4 seconds for the earth to make a complete rotation about its axis.o most people the period of rotation of the earth is 24 hours, but the actual value is 23 hours 56 minutes and 4 seconds.