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Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!prls!amdimage!amdcad!cae780!ubvax!scott
From: scott@ubvax.UUCP (Scott Scheiman)
Newsgroups: net.space
Subject: Re: Leap seconds
Message-ID: <287@ubvax.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 5-Aug-85 16:37:09 EDT
Article-I.D.: ubvax.287
Posted: Mon Aug  5 16:37:09 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 10-Aug-85 20:35:43 EDT
References: <2884@mordor.UUCP>
Organization: Ungermann-Bass, Inc., Santa Clara, CA
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In article <2884@mordor.UUCP>, @S1-A.ARPA,@MIT-MC.ARPA:FRIEDRITR%VAXJ.GATNET.MFENET@LLL-MFE.ARPA writes:
> From: FRIEDRITR%VAXJ.GATNET.MFENET@LLL-MFE.ARPA
> 
> Leap seconds are not to "even out the flaws in the Gregorian
> calendar", especially since we have one only every few years (does anyone
> know how often, on the average?).  Leap seconds keep our precise 24-hour-
> per-day clocks synchronized with the actual rotational period of the Earth,
> which exhibits slight variations.
> 
> Terry
--
Quite a few years back they came only every few years, at midnight
beginning a new year.  Then a year came when they added a leap second at
both ends of the year.  This year we had a leap second added
between June and July (I think).  I don't know why it was added in the
middle of the year this year, but my guess is that we now have to have
more than one leap second added per year and adding two on Jan. 1
(Dec. 31?) would be more disruptive than "smoothing" it out by adding 
them at far ends of the year.
-- 
"Ribbit!"     Scott Scheiman (Beam Me Up, Scotty!)  Industrial Networking, Inc.
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