Leap Second

For the first time in 7 years, it has happened. A leap second has been inserted into our time. I captured it when it happened. It occurred just before 2006 January 1 00:00 Universal Time, and was called 2005 December 31 23:59:60 UT. I was in the Eastern Time Zone, with Eastern Standard Time when this happened. Universal Time is related to Greenwich Mean Time, and is a standard time over the entire world that is the same in all zones. It is supposed to be the time in the United Kingdom, and is five hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. So for me it occurred at 2005 December 31 19:00:00, and before that was the time 2005 December 31 18:59:60, which is the time you see in my capturing (click on "captured") above, which was captured from nist.time.gov.

Leap seconds are inserted into the calendar because the Earth is not as accurate as Cesium 133 for telling the time. It used to be that the second was defined as 1/31,556,925.9747 of the tropical year 1900. When atomic clocks were invented, it was redefined as 9,192,631,770 oscillations between two hyperfine levels of Cesium 133 atoms. The calendar year varies in length in comparison to this, so to keep it even with the atomic year, every once in a while an extra second has to be added to the year. It has happened 21 times since 1972. The reason why the Earth is going off time is because tides are slowing down its rotation. The tides are also lengthening the month and making the Moon recede from the Earth. Supposedly in 50 billion years, both month and day will be 47 of our days long, but before that happens, the Sun will become a red giant and evaporate the oceans.

So now I will add in a leap "p" and wish everyone a Happpy New Year!

Leap Second

For the first time in 7 years, it has happened. A leap second has been inserted into our time. I captured it when it happened. It occurred just before 2006 January 1 00:00 Universal Time, and was called 2005 December 31 23:59:60 UT. I was in the Eastern Time Zone, with Eastern Standard Time when this happened. Universal Time is related to Greenwich Mean Time, and is a standard time over the entire world that is the same in all zones. It is supposed to be the time in the United Kingdom, and is five hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. So for me it occurred at 2005 December 31 19:00:00, and before that was the time 2005 December 31 18:59:60, which is the time you see in my capturing (click on "captured") above, which was captured from nist.time.gov.

Leap seconds are inserted into the calendar because the Earth is not as accurate as Cesium 133 for telling the time. It used to be that the second was defined as 1/31,556,925.9747 of the tropical year 1900. When atomic clocks were invented, it was redefined as 9,192,631,770 oscillations between two hyperfine levels of Cesium 133 atoms. The calendar year varies in length in comparison to this, so to keep it even with the atomic year, every once in a while an extra second has to be added to the year. It has happened 21 times since 1972. The reason why the Earth is going off time is because tides are slowing down its rotation. The tides are also lengthening the month and making the Moon recede from the Earth. Supposedly in 50 billion years, both month and day will be 47 of our days long, but before that happens, the Sun will become a red giant and evaporate the oceans.

So now I will add in a leap "p" and wish everyone a Happpy New Year!

Holiday Fantasy Run

I went out on my run this year at night to see all the holiday lights. The lights seem to be something special with me. These lights pierce the darkness and give an atmosphere of fantasy to all that surrounds it. I especially like displays that use no white lights of any kind, especially those that use red, green, and blue lights. These colors seem to lead their own moods to the scene - cool blue, shimmering green and passionate red. I may use only these colors next year. One place where I don't seem to like colored lights now is in windows. I put three red candles in each window each year, but next year I may try white candles and use all red, green, and blue in the yard.

To me the winner was the one that wins every year, with stripes across the yard, a blazing star on the roof with streamers coming down from it, and lights all over the place besides, and a train on the lawn. How do trains relate to Christmas, anyway? I thought Santa used a sleigh. I did find two displays that use only colored bulbs. One had animated snowmen and Santa, and another had a house in the middle of the yard. Still another used mostly candy canes - a Candy Cane Land.

A blaze of brilliance each year, but is all this necessary, especially the gaudy floodlight white displays? There are energy shortages coming up in future years, and I remember that in the 1970s during the Arab oil embargo, use of a lot of holiday lighting was discouraged. Will this happen again? However, I think more could be saved by not leaving your lights on at work when you leave, especially if you work in a mid-city tower. Do all those windows need to be lit up at night?