[LEAPSECS] nails in the coffin of mean solar time

[Rob Seaman]

On Jun 14, 2007, at 3:37 PM, Greg Hennessy wrote:


> I also don't consider the laws in question to be of any appreciable  

> difference over what the current status is.


If there is no appreciable difference, why is a change being sought?

By seeking to replace mean solar time as the foundation of U.S. civil  
time, there is a tacit admission that UTC may subsequently not remain  
tied to mean solar time.  Else, as you say, "what's the diff?"  An  
admission, that is to say, that a UTC that relies on bundling 3600  
leap seconds into each leap hour can no longer be regarded as an  
expression of mean solar time.

Rob Seaman
NOAO