UT (at least in the form of UTC, Universal Time Coordinated) is the current
successor to GMT (Greenwich Mean Time).  UTC is based on atomic time (with its
constant rate, which was based on the astronomer's Ephemeris Time), with leap
seconds being inserted as required to maintain synchronism with the earth's
rotation.  The two are slightly different, hence different names.

12:00 GMT is almost the same as 12:00 UTC, give or take about half a second or
so.  I suspect that most values reported as GMT are really UTC, GMT being used
for historical continuity in the UK.

Gordon


At 09:18 AM 2/24/99 , David Higgon wrote:
>Dear All,
>
>You'll have to forgive my ignorance, but what is the difference between GMT
>and UT?
>
>In practical terms, isn't 12:00 GMT the same time as 12:00 UT?  If so,
>what's the point of renaming something we've already got?

Gordon Uber [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Reynen & Uber Web Design http://www.ubr.com/rey&ubr/
Webmaster: Clocks and Time http://www.ubr.com/clocks/

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