Timekeeping will pause into the New Year with a 'Leap Second'
{{date|December 27, 2005}}
[[Image:Atomicclock.jpg|right|180px]]    
The [[w: United States Naval Observatory|U.S. Naval Observatory]] in Washington D.C. will adjust [[w: Atomic clock|atomic clocks]] by pausing (adding) a second, and thus let time pass without counting it for the [[w: Coordinated Universal Time|Coordinated Universal Time]] or UTC on December 31st. The mark-time will occur on the last tick prior to the 2006 new year.

The accuracy of atomic clocks is based upon the resonance of caesium 133, which was used to define (in 1958) the second as the length of time for 9,192,631,770 cycles of vibration as they pass through a magnetic field. The resonate constancy of [[w:caesium|caesium]] exceeds the accuracy of the Earth’s rotation around the Sun.

Because the Earth’s spin will fluctuate due to lunar tides and atmospheric winds, the [[w: International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service|International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service]] has had to request 22 'leap seconds' since 1972. The last adjustment made to the UTC was in 1998.
 
==Sources==
*{{source|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/25/AR2005122500496.html 
|title=Added Ticktock of the Clock Restarts Time Debate
|author=Guy Gugliotta
|pub=The Washington Post
|date=December 26, 2005}}
*{{source|url=http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-12-27-voa26.cfm 
|title=Timekeeper to Add 'Leap Second' to Clocks
|author=
|pub=Voice of America
|date=December 27, 2005}}
*{{source|url=http://news.com.com/2061-11204_3-6009898.html 
|title='Leap second' to be added on Dec. 31
|author=
|pub=CNET
|date=December 27, 2005}}
*{{source|url=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/253531_leapsecond27.html 
|title=Take an extra second this year to reflect on 2005
|author=Lee Bowman of Scripps Howard News Service
|pub=Seattle pi
|date=December 27, 2005}}

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[[Category:Science and technology]]

[[de:An Silvester werden die Uhren eine Sekunde lang angehalten]]
[[es:El 2006 se demora un segundo en empezar]]
[[it:Alla fine di questo anno verrà aggiunto un secondo in più]]
[[ja:日本標準時、2006年元旦に閏秒実施―協定世界時は年末に閏秒]]
[[pt:2006 levará um segundo a mais para começar]]
[[ru:Новый год наступит на секунду позже]]
180px    
The U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington D.C. will adjust atomic clocks by pausing (adding) a second, and thus let time pass without counting it for the Coordinated Universal Time or UTC on December 31st. The mark-time will occur on the last tick prior to the 2006 new year.

The accuracy of atomic clocks is based upon the resonance of caesium 133, which was used to define (in 1958) the second as the length of time for 9,192,631,770 cycles of vibration as they pass through a magnetic field. The resonate constancy of caesium exceeds the accuracy of the Earth’s rotation around the Sun.

Because the Earth’s spin will fluctuate due to lunar tides and atmospheric winds, the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service has had to request 22 'leap seconds' since 1972. The last adjustment made to the UTC was in 1998.
 

de:An Silvester werden die Uhren eine Sekunde lang angehalten
es:El 2006 se demora un segundo en empezar
it:Alla fine di questo anno verrà aggiunto un secondo in più
ja:日本標準時、2006年元旦に閏秒実施―協定世界時は年末に閏秒
2006 levará um segundo a mais para começar
Science and technology