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The atomic clock must stay linked up with earth's rotation.

Earth runs in an inconsistent speed, so to synch it up with the atomic clock, June 30, 2015 will be longer by a second. This extra second, added after midnight, is called a leap second. This is not the first time extra time has been added in order for several operations, like computers and the stock market, to run smoothly.

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Highlights

By Talia Ramos (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
6/25/2015 (8 years ago)

Published in Green

Keywords: Leap Second, Extra, June 30, Speed, Earth Rotation, Atomic Clock, UTC, GPS, Computer, Stock Market, Precision, Accuracy

MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - According to USA Today, because of the occasional slowing down or fast pace rotation of our planet, scientists created the atomic clock in the 1950s. The atomic clock keeps the precise, unchanging time we base life on.

To address the inconsistency with the earth's rotation, the Coordinated Universal Time or UTC is created, bridging the gap between two opposite rotation speeds and the steady ticking of the atomic clock. However, about every 10 years, the clock moves ahead of the earth, causing scientists to extend UTC by a second.

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Nick Stamatakos, the chief of earth orientation parameters at the United States Naval Observatory, explained, to USA Today, that doing so is important especially in operations like the Global Positioning System (GPS).

"The GPS will tell a user where his location is relative to the GPS spacecraft," and to give accurate location, it needs precise time coordinated with the earth's rotation speed, he explained. "If you don't know the time accurately you can mistake where you are and your speed."

Stamatakos confirmed that having leap seconds often, is similar to having a mini Y2k every couple of years. He also said that those working with computers are tested to learn how they can adjust, especially those in the stock market where trading is affected by the seconds.

"Some U.S. exchanges will pause around the leap second as a precaution or will halt after-hours trading beforehand," said Mitchell Hartman of the MarketPlace.

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