[Swprograms] Scientists oppose proposal to ban UTC leap seconds

[Joel Rubin <jmrubin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

http://tinyurl.com/cm4mz

(on Telegraph.co.uk)

 Scientists plead for leap seconds
(Filed: 28/09/2005)

A proposal to ban leap seconds, which keep clock time synchronised
with the Earth's rotation and the location of the Sun in the sky,
should be opposed, astronomers said yesterday. 

Leap seconds, an extra "pip", are sometimes added in December to delay
Big Ben and keep atomic time in tune with the cycle of day and night
determined by the Earth's rotation, which is slowing by about two
milliseconds per day.

However, a radical proposal to abolish leap seconds will be discussed
by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) at a meeting in
November.

The Royal Astronomical Society said yesterday that this proposal
should be shelved because of problems for astronomers, satellite
operators and potentially all who study phenomena related to the
rising and setting of the Sun.

Some also fear that the daily cycle would drift out of sync with clock
time, turning day into night. 

(Well, the Moslem lunar calendar DOES turn Ramadan from summer to
winter in about 5 or 6 years - it's about 11 days short of a solar
year. This is why the Jewish-Babylonian and Chinese lunisolar
calendars add an extra months about 7 times in 19 years.

But after how many thousand years would noon be at night on the
equator? There are 86,400 seconds in a day and how frequently is there
a leap second?

On the other hand, it might kill people by making navigation more
complicated although with satellite navigation that might not be an
issue either.)
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