There's an extra second in '08, blink and you'll miss it

The Virginian-Pilot ^ | 31 Dec 08 | Diane Tennant

[GATOR NAVY]

Got a second? Today, you'll actually have an extra one, thanks to a "leap second" being added to the world's clocks.

Time measurement used to be based on the Earth's rotation; 24 hours was one day. With the invention of atomic clocks, which are more precise, it became apparent that there was a difference of about 2 milliseconds a day between the two systems of keeping time. Leap seconds can be added or subtracted to atomic clocks to keep them within 0.9 seconds of Earth's rotational time.

Today's extra second will be added at the U.S. Naval Observatory's Master Clock Facility in Washington at 6:59:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Don't squander it.

[GATOR NAVY]

When I was in the Navy one of the things I was responsible for were the ship's chronometers. While the leap second won't mean much to 99.999% of the population, we had to account for them in the Time Piece Rate Book we used to keep track of each chronometer's errors. The chronometers were used to set the stopwatches we used for celestial navigation observations.

[Fiddlstix]

leap second
bump

[period end of story]

One second post.

[LimaLimaMikeFoxtrot]

I agree with another FReeper. I don't want this year to last one second longer.

Aaarrrrgh.

[trumandogz]

If we can add an extra second to 2008, George W. Bush could add an extra four years to 2008 and keep Obama from becoming President.

[Wilhelm Tell]

When I was in the Navy one of the things I was responsible for were the ship's chronometers.

That sounds like a cool task. But then I am a geek. I will probably listen to WWV and count along as it ticks out the extra second.

You would probably enjoy the book about George Harrison (the clockmaker, not the Beatle). I wish I could remember the name of the book. Anyway, Harrison made the first chronometer and he had a real struggle getting people to understand how a chronometer could be used in ship navigation. His thinking was so far ahead of the conventional wisdom of the day. Harrison was unappreciated and almost ignored -- a man ahead of his time (pun intended). Amazing story.

[Glenn]

If I live to be a million, this will matter. Or not.

[GATOR NAVY]

I don't think I would go as far as listening to WWV but I do have the book you are talking about (or at least a book about it)-Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel. A very interesting read.

[Salamander]

I’m observing it right now just to be sure I don’t miss the real one.

[*woops!* there it went!]

:)

[Allegra]

Today's extra second will be added at the U.S. Naval Observatory's Master Clock Facility in Washington at 6:59:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Don't squander it.

Well, dang it - it'll be 2:59:59 a.m. here. I'll probably sleep through it.

I miss all the good stuff! {Stomp!}

[moneyrunner]

I could not resist

Pravda was a beacon of journalistic truth and technical prowess compared with the Virginian Pilot

[zeugma]

The best internet site for time is, IMO, the Directorate of Time.

To find the current time, go here:

US Naval Observatory Master Clock Time

Dec. 31, 16:10:14 UTC
Dec. 31, 11:10:14 AM EST
Dec. 31, 10:10:14 AM CST
Dec. 31, 09:10:14 AM MST
Dec. 31, 08:10:14 AM PST
Dec. 31, 07:10:14 AM AKST
Dec. 31, 06:10:14 AM HAST

They've issued a Bulletin about the Leap second. For those interested, here's what the time sequence will be as the leap second occurs...

COORDINATED UNIVERSAL TIME (UTC) WILL SEQUENCE AS FOLLOWS:
             31 DEC 2008 23 HOURS 59 MINUTES 59 SECONDS
             31 DEC 2008 23 HOURS 59 MINUTES 60 SECONDS
             01 JAN 2009 00 HOURS 00 MINUTES 00 SECONDS

The leap is noted as a "60" second in between second '59' and '00'.

There is some really cool information at the above site about timekeeping and such things.

Wikipedia has great information about Unix Time, and time in general.

Determining the precise time of past events is actually a heck of a lot more difficult than you'd expect, because there is not an absolute standard for it.

[Wilhelm Tell]

-Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel.

Yes, that is the book. Quite a fascinating story and it was interesting how people resisted Harrison's ideas.