Rob Seaman <sea...@noao.edu> wrote: > > We had a spirited discussion here sometime in the last few years making > the point that leap seconds (or equivalent adjustments) are not tightly > coupled to tidal deceleration, rather the more stochastic (probably not > the right word) shorter term geophysical variations that are > flamboyantly pictured on Steve's page above create a requirement for > timekeeping corrections all on their own. And without a Moon to temper > the Earth's motions, the EOP values might be much more variable. So we > might stop blaming the Moon for this timekeeping issue - it is intrinsic > to life on Mother Earth.
Would the earth be slowing down so fast without the moon? There's some tidal coupling in the earth-sun system but isn't it much smaller? Tony. -- f.anthony.n.finch <d...@dotat.at> http://dotat.at/ Rockall, Malin, Hebrides: South 5 to 7, occasionally gale 8 at first in Rockall and Malin, veering west or northwest 4 or 5, then backing southwest 5 or 6 later. Rough or very rough. Occasional rain. Moderate or good, occasionally poor. _______________________________________________ LEAPSECS mailing list LEAPSECS@leapsecond.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/leapsecs
