[time-nuts] How many seconds in a year?

Tom Van Baak tvb at LeapSecond.com
Tue Oct 14 23:11:01 UTC 2008


> Hi,
> the GPS system obviously counts seconds, and weeks.  When the solar  
> year develops a  phase
> difference of more than half a second the UTC crowd  consider a leap  
> second, so what is the current
> rotational velocity of the Earth, either WRT the Sun or the stars? In  
> seconds.
> I could find many answers on Google but none that seemed good enough  
> to set your clock by.
> By clock I just mean a rubidium clock that is harmonised to the GPS  
> system.
> cheers, Neville Michie

One leap second every few years is equivalent to about 1e-8.
So the answer to your question only starts to matter when
measurements are more precise than 8 digits. See also:

<Earth: An Oscillator and Frequency Standard>
http://www.leapsecond.com/museum/earth/

/tvb




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