[LEAPSECS] New time scale name

[Tony Finch]

On 12 Aug 2010, at 21:25, Michael Deckers <michael.deckers at yahoo.com> wrote:

> 

>   I fear that the matter is less simple. The proposal keeps the

>   name UTC for the newly defined timescale. (And unfortunately,

>   there is precedent with essential changes in definitions of well

>   established time scales: GMT.)


AIUI the UT* terms disambiguate the various meanings of GMT (ish). Perhaps the name UTC will be superseded in a similar way, becoming ambiguous and replaced by new terms.


> So that, absurdly, those people

>   who continue to use UTC in the established sense could not keep

>   the well-established name for it -- they would have to find a

>   new name to avoid ambiguity (eg, UTL for UT with leap seconds).


UTC cannot exist without a recognised authority who determines when leap seconds occur. If that authority stops adding leap seconds and breaks the |DUT1| < 0.9s guarantee I doubt anyone will take over the job. It would probably be easier to switch over to using the GPS time scale and ephemeris.

GMT was also tied to a particular maintenance regime and stopped being a precise timescale when it was no longer being maintained.

Tony.
-- 
f.anthony.n.finch  <dot at dotat.at>  http://dotat.at/