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Leap Second

Doctor Q

Doctor Q

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Original poster
Staff member
Sep 19, 2002
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Los Angeles
I'm ready for today's exciting leap second at midnight UTC, 4 hours from now. The clock will read 11:59:58, then 11:59:59, then 11:59:60, then 12:00:00, then 12:00:01, at least if you have a clock smart enough to know about leap seconds.


If you're on the U.S. West coast or points even further west, you'll probably still be at work. You have my sympathy for having to work an extra second today.

If you're further east and it's after work, be sure to spend your extra second doing something enjoyable. You've earned it!

The most recent leap second before this one was 3 years ago, on June 30, 2012.
 
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Doctor Q said:
I'm ready for today's exciting leap second at midnight UTC, 4 hours from now. The clock will read 11:59:58, then 11:59:59, then 11:59:60, then 12:00:00, then 12:00:01, at least if you have a clock smart enough to know about leap seconds.


If you're on the U.S. West coast or points even further west, you'll probably still be at work. You have my sympathy for having to work an extra second today.

If you're further east and it's after work, be sure to spend your extra second doing something enjoyable. You've earned it!

The most recent leap second before this one was 3 years ago, on June 30, 2012.
Click to expand...

I read about this on the BBC (and in the Guardian) earlier today. Fascinating.

Great idea for a thread.
 
Too bad iPhones don't show the time with seconds on the lockscreen. However, you can see the time with seconds on the Clock app's icon. And if you enable Zoom in Settings -> General -> Accessibility, then you can zoom in so the Clock app's icon fills the screen. I'm going to watch it to see if it stops for one second with the second hand at the top at midnight UTC.
 
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I've already squandered my leap second, and will be working extra to make up for it.

And if I count the time to post this, I've almost certainly squandered my entire lifetime allotment of leap seconds.
 
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Leap Second is Over

I watched my iPhone's Clock app icon, and it didn't stall for a second as I expected. Shame shame.

Shall I turn in my iPhone for a full refund because it's defective?
 
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Well I feel so refreshed having had that extra sleep last night. Yessir! Ready for a new day! Come on, trouble, I'm ready! :D :p


....in other news who saw Jupiter and Venus in conjunction?
 
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Melrose said:
Well I feel so refreshed having had that extra sleep last night. Yessir! Ready for a new day! Come on, trouble, I'm ready! :D :p


....in other news who saw Jupiter and Venus in conjunction?
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To the latter question, the answer is regretfully, no, alas, I didn't. Cloudy skies impeded unhindered viewing of that spectacle.

Re the elasticity of time, and means of measuring same, I am delighted to learn that you slept well and awoke refreshed. It is clear that more Leap Seconds are needed to enhance our quality of life, not fewer………in the form of compressed time.
 
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I read yesterday that the US and France for example want to get rid of it, as it potentially interferes with our gloriously advanced smart-tech (see, your iPhone is not alone...), but the UK and some opposes that heavily, as I guess scientists all over the world. Q, you have some more insight into that debate?


Getting rid would basically mean re-writing all the equations in astrolomy (different constants and whatnot) for example. But it was just an extremely brief text as is probably adequate to the matter at hand..
 
It's well known that leap seconds are a secret conspiracy, first revealed by columnist Charlie Robins in the Gainesville Sun in 1985.

His article says:

I believe the Bureau of Standards has been slipping [leap seconds] in on the following occasions:
  • Whenever we're seated in a dentist's chair, with two wads of cotton, three fingers and a drill stuffed in our mouth.
  • Anytime a TV announcer says "We'll return after this brief message from our sponsors."
  • When we walk into a crowded restaurant and the hostess takes our name and estimates that there'll be "about a 15-minute wait" for a table
  • During airline stopovers in Atlanta.
  • Whenever traffic lights are on red.
  • During commencement addresses, classroom lectures, political speeches, sales pitches and television editorials.
  • Between meals when we're on a diet.
  • While waiting for the next bus, the next elevator or the next payday to arrive.
  • When we're drying our clothes at the laundromat.
His article is a masterpiece. Read the whole thing, especially the part about ceiling fans that may be slowing the Earth.
 
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Melrose said:
I didn't get to see it on the night of, but did see it preceding. I never get bored with astronomy either. :)
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Neither do I.

Actually, I love this sort of stuff, and love reading about it - and, if I am lucky enough - I love being able to see it, physically see it, too. To my mind, it cannot but give rise to a sense of wonder and awe.
 
Scepticalscribe said:
Neither do I.

Actually, I love this sort of stuff, and love reading about it - and, if I am lucky enough - I love being able to see it, physically see it, too. To my mind, it cannot but give rise to a sense of wonder and awe.
Click to expand...

I have a couple apps, I'm sure you've heard of them or used them yourself: Star Walk 2 and Solar Walk both from the same developer. Star Walk 2 is very cool because it overlays a night sky map through not he camera view so you can line up everything. To think the old seafarers used to know the skies like the back other hands... 0_o
 
Melrose said:
I have a couple apps, I'm sure you've heard of them or used them yourself: Star Walk 2 and Solar Walk both from the same developer. Star Walk 2 is very cool because it overlays a night sky map through not he camera view so you can line up everything. To think the old seafarers used to know the skies like the back other hands... 0_o
Click to expand...


Thanks a lot for taking the time and trouble to post this information.

No, I haven't used them - are they for iPhones, or computers? And where does one go about laying hands on them?

It is overcast and raining here tonight, but I love that stuff when you can get a clear sky.
 
Melrose said:
I have a couple apps, I'm sure you've heard of them or used them yourself: Star Walk 2 and Solar Walk both from the same developer. Star Walk 2 is very cool because it overlays a night sky map through not he camera view so you can line up everything. To think the old seafarers used to know the skies like the back other hands... 0_o
Click to expand...
Scepticalscribe said:

Thanks a lot for taking the time and trouble to post this information.

No, I haven't used them - are they for iPhones, or computers? And where does one go about laying hands on them?

It is overcast and raining here tonight, but I love that stuff when you can get a clear sky.
Click to expand...

Star Walk 2 is actually free today: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/star-walk-2-guide-to-night/id892279069

There are also a few other similar popular ones, like Star Chart, Sky Guide, SkyView, Star Rover, etc.
 
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Melrose said:
I have a couple apps, I'm sure you've heard of them or used them yourself: Star Walk 2 and Solar Walk both from the same developer. Star Walk 2 is very cool because it overlays a night sky map through not he camera view so you can line up everything. To think the old seafarers used to know the skies like the back other hands... 0_o
Click to expand...

Yup! Star Walk 2 is an awesome app! Both me and the wife have it and love it.
 
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