I'm stranded on an alien planet. How do I measure an earth year without a clock?

I just got shoved through a stargate onto a planet I don't know. I was told the gate would open again in exactly one Earth year.

I wasn't carrying anything; I don't even have my watch. How do I know what day I can return home?

I can count days, but first, I need to determine the absolute length of this planet's day. How can I do that?

I can't just count off seconds - way too inaccurate over a period of hours.

I could make a pendulum to use as a clock, but that's useless unless I know the value of gravity here.

I don't know the air pressure or % oxygen, just that I'm able to breathe.

The scenario should be recognized as contrived and not picked over. I recognize that it probably wouldn't be worthwhile to actually try to measure time in this situation. The point is, how accurately can you measure time without a reference?

I asked this because I was wondering if there was any physical process (other than nuclear decay) with a rate that was independent of (or at least highly insensitive to) gravity and pressure, and not requiring an accurate measure of mass.

posted over 9 years ago

Tristan Klassen‭

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