Re: [LEAPSECS] A lurker surfaces

From: Rob Seaman <seaman_at_NOAO.EDU>
Date: Tue, 2 Jan 2007 20:45:14 -0700

Magnus Danielson wrote:

> If you do want a new timescale, I think rubber seconds isn't going
> to be the solution.

One might point out that many time scales do rely on rubbery seconds,
e.g., sidereal time and apparent solar time. If might be
enlightening to step back from the tendentious and tedious tug-of-war
between UTC and TAI and reflect that even UT1 - a mean solar time
scale - intrinsically has rubber seconds. Sexagesimal notation is
clearly revealed as a way to express an angle - of Earth orientation
in this case. The whole point of UTC is to permit Earth orientation
to be approximated while using SI seconds.

Rob Seaman
NOAO
Received on Tue Jan 02 2007 - 19:45:36 PST