On Jan 23, 8:47*pm, "Gavino" wrote:
"Joe Egginton" wrote in message

...

Actually it's not quite correct to
say that the Earth rotates on its axis every 24 hours - it's 23 hours
and 56 minutes, and the 4 minutes makes it up to 24 hours.

Ian Bingham,
Inchmarlo, Aberdeenshire.

The obvious solution is to shorten the definition of a second from it's
9,162,613,770 oscillations per second of caesium 133. *So that the
measurement of the earth's rotation in a day exactly equals 24 hours.

Of course, by changing the definition of a second, it'll have major
implications for our high tech electronic world, from mobile phones to
the internet not working.

To say nothing of the fact that after six months, we would be having solar
noon at midnight!

You *are* joking, I hope?

To be fair,only contemporary imaging and technology allows a clearer
view of the components parts.

The term AM/PM refer to a single daily astronomical event as a
location turns to and then turns past natural noon,these cycles vary
as it combines the daily rotation of the Earth with the known orbital
variations.Each of these noon cycles comprising of dual motions and
their variation represent discrete events yet comprise of a overall
cycle where rotations and orbital cycles come back into close
alignment after 1461 days or its orbital equivalent of 4 years.They
created an average 24 hour day out of the total number of natural noon
cycles by continuously adding or subtracting minutes and seconds
needed to keep the 1461 clocks noon cycles in step with the 1461
natural noon cycles.

People who are unaccustomed to the entire sprawling structure would
find the details almost painful,at least at the beginning,but it so
happens that days/years do convert to rotations/orbits and why Feb
29th will be the final 1461st rotation that began Mar 1st 2008.

I am prepared to leave it like that,it is a shame that the English who
have a great astronomical and timekeeping heritage would find the idea
contentious that the daily temperature fluctuations keep in step with
one rotation of the Earth within a system of proportions between
rotations and orbital cycles.