OpenBSD adds support for Coordinated Mars Time

Post by imoverclocked » Fri, Apr 02, 2021, 4:41 PM UTC

nuccy wrote: post #52

imoverclocked wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess pulsars may be our best bet for a universally coordinated time? We can detect the passage of time in a gravity well and create a well-centric system if need be!

Well, no, pulsars periods drift due to change of alignment and emission process over time. Thought special and general relativity will drive any "global/solar system/galaxy"-wide precise time useless on long term anyway. The best is to keep track of long enough common measures ("day", "month") with decimal/fractions being connected to actual local times.

Post by imoverclocked » Fri, Apr 02, 2021, 4:57 PM UTC

imoverclocked wrote: post #62

gorgoiler wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you saying that a given pulsar acts as a giant sky clock? And that because it is far away — for some large value of far — it means that any clock inconsistencies across the solar system can be compensated for?

Pretty much, yes! Obviously the speed of light and orbital motion/distances make things tricky but not impossible. I think I’m also saying that since time passes at different rates in different gravity scenarios, a single external reference may be the best way to coordinate time… even outside of our solar system.

Post by gorgoiler » Sat, Apr 03, 2021, 9:49 AM UTC

imoverclocked wrote: post #64

imoverclocked wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, “single external reference” might be wrong here. Using multiple pulsars might give us a better fix for our position +time solution across large distances.

Even cooler is that this has apparently and unsurprisingly already been explored.