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A minute is a unit of measurement of time
Time

Time is a component of the measurement used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify the motions of objects....
 or of angle
Angle

In geometry and trigonometry, an angle is the figure formed by two Ray sharing a common endpoint, called the vertex of the angle . The magnitude of the angle is the "amount of rotation" that separates the two rays, and can be measured by considering the length of circular arc swept out when one ray is rotated about the vertex to coincide...
.

The minute is a unit of time
Time

Time is a component of the measurement used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify the motions of objects....
 equal to 1/60th of an hour
Hour

The hour is a unit of time. It is not an SI unit but is Non-SI units accepted for use with SI....
 or 60 second
Second

The second , sometimes abbreviated sec., is the name of a units of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units SI base unit of time....
s. In the UTC
Coordinated Universal Time

Coordinated Universal Time is a time standard based on International Atomic Time with leap seconds added at irregular intervals to compensate for the Earth's slowing rotation....
 time scale
Time scale

A duration scale specifies divisions of time and possibly an epoch that marks the time when the time scale began .*A time standard is a specification of either the rate at which time passes, or points in time, or both....
, a minute occasionally has 59 or 61 seconds; see leap second
Leap second

A leap second is a plus or minus one-second adjustment to the Coordinated Universal Time time scale that keeps it close to Solar time. UTC, which is used as the basis for official time-of-day radio broadcasts for civil time, is maintained using extremely precise atomic clocks....
. The minute is not an SI
Si

Si, si, or SI may refer to :...
 unit; however, it is accepted for use with SI units.

The symbol for minute or minutes is min.

The fact that an hour contains 60 minutes is probably due to influences from the Babylon
Babylon

Babylon was a city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, sometimes considered an empire, the remains of which can be found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Governorate, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad....
ians, who used a base-60
Numeral system

A numeral system is a writing system for expressing numerals , and a mathematical notation for representing numbers of a given set, using graphemes or symbols in a consistent manner....
 or sexagesimal counting system.

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Astronomy

Astronomy is the science of Astronomical object and Phenomenon that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere . It is concerned with the evolution, physics, chemistry, meteorology, and motion of celestial objects, as well as the physical cosmology....
, the minute is a unit of angle, the minute of right ascension
Right ascension

Right ascension is the astronomical term for one of the two coordinates of a point on the celestial sphere when using the equatorial coordinate system....
.






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A minute is a unit of measurement of time
Time

Time is a component of the measurement used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify the motions of objects....
 or of angle
Angle

In geometry and trigonometry, an angle is the figure formed by two Ray sharing a common endpoint, called the vertex of the angle . The magnitude of the angle is the "amount of rotation" that separates the two rays, and can be measured by considering the length of circular arc swept out when one ray is rotated about the vertex to coincide...
.

The minute is a unit of time
Time

Time is a component of the measurement used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify the motions of objects....
 equal to 1/60th of an hour
Hour

The hour is a unit of time. It is not an SI unit but is Non-SI units accepted for use with SI....
 or 60 second
Second

The second , sometimes abbreviated sec., is the name of a units of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units SI base unit of time....
s. In the UTC
Coordinated Universal Time

Coordinated Universal Time is a time standard based on International Atomic Time with leap seconds added at irregular intervals to compensate for the Earth's slowing rotation....
 time scale
Time scale

A duration scale specifies divisions of time and possibly an epoch that marks the time when the time scale began .*A time standard is a specification of either the rate at which time passes, or points in time, or both....
, a minute occasionally has 59 or 61 seconds; see leap second
Leap second

A leap second is a plus or minus one-second adjustment to the Coordinated Universal Time time scale that keeps it close to Solar time. UTC, which is used as the basis for official time-of-day radio broadcasts for civil time, is maintained using extremely precise atomic clocks....
. The minute is not an SI
Si

Si, si, or SI may refer to :...
 unit; however, it is accepted for use with SI units.

The symbol for minute or minutes is min.

The fact that an hour contains 60 minutes is probably due to influences from the Babylon
Babylon

Babylon was a city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, sometimes considered an empire, the remains of which can be found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Governorate, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad....
ians, who used a base-60
Numeral system

A numeral system is a writing system for expressing numerals , and a mathematical notation for representing numbers of a given set, using graphemes or symbols in a consistent manner....
 or sexagesimal counting system.

Astronomy

In astronomy
Astronomy

Astronomy is the science of Astronomical object and Phenomenon that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere . It is concerned with the evolution, physics, chemistry, meteorology, and motion of celestial objects, as well as the physical cosmology....
, the minute is a unit of angle, the minute of right ascension
Right ascension

Right ascension is the astronomical term for one of the two coordinates of a point on the celestial sphere when using the equatorial coordinate system....
. It is equal to 1/60th of an hour of right ascension and can be further divided into 60 seconds of right ascension.

The symbol for a minute of right ascension is min.

The Earth
Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun. Earth is the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in diameter, mass and density. It is also referred to as the World and Wiktionary:Terra.Note that by International Astronomical Union convention, the term "Terra" is used for naming extensive land masses, rather...
 turns on its polar
Geographical pole

A geographical pole , is either of two points on the surface of a spinning planet or other spinning body, at 90 degrees from its equator, at one of the two points where the Axis of rotation around which the body spins meets the surface of the body....
 axis through fifteen minutes of arc in every minute of sidereal time
Sidereal time

Sidereal time is a measure of the position of the Earth in its rotation around its axis, or time measured by the apparent diurnal motion of the vernal equinox, which is very close to, but not identical to, the motion of stars....
. One minute of arc at the Earth's equator
Equator

The equator is the intersection of the Earth's surface with the Plane perpendicular to the Earth's rotation and containing the Earth's center of mass....
 is approximately one nautical mile
Nautical mile

A nautical mile or sea mile is a unit of length. It corresponds approximately to one minute of arc of latitude along any meridian .It is a non-International System of Units unit used especially by navigators in the shipping and aviation industries....
.

In old astronomical texts minute can also mean a unit of time equal to 1/60th of a day (24 usual minutes). These minutes correspond to the Latin diei scrupulis, and used to express periods of planetary motions. For example, Kepler in Harmonices Mundi gives Saturn
Saturn

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn, along with Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune, is classified as a gas giant....
 year as 10759D12', that is 10759 (Earth) days, 4 hours, and 48 (usual) minutes.

Origin

The first division was originally known as a "prime minute", from Latin "(pars) minuta prima", meaning "first minute (i.e. small) part (or division)" of the hour. Likewise, the second
Second

The second , sometimes abbreviated sec., is the name of a units of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units SI base unit of time....
 was known as a "second minute", meaning "the second small division" of the hour.