I love science and the quirks that come along with it. Despite the accuracy of atomic clocks, the
earth will have to recalibrate its wristwatch this month. There are actually two ways of keeping time
on our planet. The first has been our
time-keeper since sentient life roamed the earth: our good old sun. The second is the already-mentioned atomic
clock.
The atomic clock is steady, but our rotation about our axis and
revolution around the sun are a bit wonky.
That means that a day isn’t always the 24 hours we know, and our year
isn’t always the 365 days we know. Of
course, we are familiar with the leap year, in which we gain one day. But are you familiar with the leap
second? A leap second means we are
adding an extra second to our clocks.
But how do we gain one second? The Earth’s rotation is not exactly
constant. A number of factors affect how
fast we spin, such as ocean tides, and the moon and sun’s gravity. Because each of these things affect us
simultaneously, but in differing amounts depending on relative positions of
each, our day is not always exactly 24 hours.
This means we have to recalibrate Earth’s clock to be in better synch
with the “sun-as-time-keeper”.
This won’t impact us in our daily lives since our clocks at
home generally are accurate to one minute, so the extra second won’t be noticeable.
But it’s good to know it’s there, just
in case we need it.
Enjoy your long weekend and use that one second wisely! ;-)
