But Tony, surely the "out of step" amount is just the accumulation of a few seconds each day. The "mechanical time" and even the "sidereal time" elapsed between noon and noon on consecutive solar days really is longer by a few seconds than it is on others. It is the liptical orbit and the inclination of the orbital plane to the axis of rotation that lead to the need for a correction.
At 23:37 08/11/1999 +0000, Tony Moss wrote: >>----- Original Message ----- >>From: John Carmichael <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >>To: <[email protected]> >>Sent: Saturday, November 06, 1999 8:42 AM >>Subject: SEND QUESTIONS! >> >> >>> Attention Dialists! >>> >>> I'm feeling very frustrated. NASS put me in charge of accumulating from >>you >>> all frequently asked sundial questions. This is a very important project >>> since it will eventually be of great help to all beginning dialists, and >>> even to some of you old timers. > >".....so days get longer by sixteen minutes in December! Won't that mean that an extra day will be added every 90 days or so if every day is 16 minutes longer?" > >Answer: Days don't get LONGER by 16 minutes. Solar Noon is 'out of step' with Clock Noon by 16 minutes in October?November > >It took a while for this light to dawn for me > >Tony Moss > ------------------------------Andrew Pettit-------------------------------- e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Postman Pat: 3, Lucastes Road, HAYWARDS HEATH, West Sussex, RH16 1JJ, ENGLAND Tel. UK: (+44) (0)1444 453111
