Post #1618152
2024-04-05 20:13 UTC
@dgoldsmith Given that UTC stands for Coordinated Universal Time (at least in English), it seems like it's in need of a renaming. Perhaps Coordinated Terrestrial Time?
I wonder if this will continue for other important celestial bodies? I wouldn't be surprised if at least Mars got its own time standard codified. Wikipedia mentions an "MTC", but only as a "proposed" standard based on Mars's orbit instead of atomic clocks.
Replies (2)
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@michaelbradley@mstdn.ca 2024-04-05 20:17
@dgoldsmith Although it feels a little impractical to keep creating new standards for every celestial body we visit, perhaps we need a new standard somehow independent of general relativity... how about "Stardate"? 🖖
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@alzimon@mastodon.nl 2024-04-10 05:45
@michaelbradley @dgoldsmith I find it confusing that the policy refers to UTC instead of TT (or TAI, which only differs from TT by a fixed offset). UTC is an approximation of UT (hence the name) and is tied to the actual rotation of the earth and its main use is for civil time. But I'm sure (meaning: I hope) that any actual standardization work by relevant bodies will take care of that. https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Celestial-Time-Standardization-Policy.pdf