ANST - Re: Calendars

[Timothy A. McDaniel]

jschumac at uns-dv1.jcpenney.com (Joel Schumacher) wrote about
various stuff.

"Julian Period" also refers to a date system that
astronomers use.  Day 0 is noon UTC 1 January 4713 BC
(Julian calendar) to noon UTC the next day, and every day
gets a Julian Day (JD) one plus the previous one.  "This
means that at noon UTC on 1 January AD 2000, JD 2,451,545
will start."  (All this from the calendar URL Ulf posted --
thanks!)  On 1 Jan 4713 BC, the Indiction, the Golden
Number, and the Solar Number were all 1, as explained in the
calendar FAQ at that URL.

> j'lynn yeates wrote:
>> was always taught that the cartesian system origionated at
>> zero ...

Cartesian graphs usually start at (0,0), but plotting data
has nothing to do with time.

> 0001:00:00:01 + 2000:00:00:00 = 2001:00:00:01 - the start
> of the new, third, millineum and 21st century.

Oh, no, not the interminable millenium debate ...

IT ALL JUST DEPENDS ON YOUR AXIOMS.  IT'S A RELIGIOUS
DISCUSSION (which means you can't prove a lot of your
premises and it's likely to generate a lot of flaming).
Some people like the "roll the odometer" meaning, so they
think 2000 is the start.  Some like the "two thousand year
interval" meaning, and they think 2001 is the start.  Some
people will party both days.  Some will party all thru 2000
just in case.  I'm a 2001ist myself, but I'm not going to go
around throwing rotten eggs into odometer parties.

> > > [not parsec - that's a measure of distance, Hans Solo]
> Han Solo replied something like "she made the Kessel run in 12
> parsecs, is that fast enough for you?" Being that:
>     velocity = distance / time
> Saying it did the Kessel run (a distance) in 12 parsecs,
> parsecs must be a unit of time.

One parsec is 3.26 light-years ... and to slam a lid on
another misconception, a light-year is also a unit of
distance, the distance that light in a vacuum travels in a
year, or 5.878501 (US-) trillion miles.  (If you care,
"parsec" is from "parallax-second", the distance an object
would have to be from the Sun so that it has a parallax of 1
arc second as viewed from the Earth's orbit 6 month's apart.
Or so I recall.  It was also the original name for Convex
Computers, but that matters to maybe three-four people on
this list.)

I don't care that you think "parsecs must be a unit of
time", and I wish you wouldn't get your chronometry from
Hollywood SF films.  Star Wars is wrong.  You're wrong.

> 'wolf yeates wrote:
>> any excuse / reason for a suitably decadent party is a
>> good thing ...
> Agreed.

The motion has been made and seconded.  Without objection
it is so ordered.  [Gavel goes *BANG!*]  Next agenda item?

Daniel "like I'm the chairman of anything" de Lincolia
-- 
Tim McDaniel.   Reply to tmcd at crl.com; if that fail, tmcd at austin.ibm.com
is work account.  tmcd at tmcd.austin.tx.us ... is wrong tool.  Never use this.
============================================================================
Go to http://www.ansteorra.org/lists.html to perform mailing list tasks.