Wednesday, December 31, 2008

New year 2009 delayed by a second

Due to the changes in the speed of earth's rotation and revolution, slight irregular adjustments to our time are inevitable. The International Earth Rotation and reference Systems service (IERS) had earlier declared to introduce one leap second at the end of the year 2008 (UTC). This ineffect delays the new year by a second.

So, 31 Dec 2008 23:59:60 UTC is a valid time.

Before someone jumps on me, hold on, according to IERS the leap second is added at the end of the year "UTC". So for people behind or in UTC, the current year is longer by a second and for people ahead of UTC the new year is longer by a second.

For us in India, the new second would get added as 1st Jan 2009 05:29:60 IST.

Enjoy! you've got an additional second to live! :)

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