[Adass-announce] Symposium: The Science of Time

[Arnold Rots]

The symposium The Science of Time is not an ADASS event,
but it is announced through this email list as it will be of interest
to a segment of the ADASS community.
It is hosted by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Website:
http://sot2016.cfa.harvard.edu/
The Science of Time

5-9 June 2016

Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

The uses of time in astronomy - from pointing telescopes, coordinating and
processing observations, predicting ephemerides, determining Earth
orientation, analyzing time-series data and in many other ways - represent
a broad sample of how time is used throughout human society and in space.
Time and its reciprocal, frequency, is the most accurately measurable
quantity and often an important path to the frontiers of science. But the
future of timekeeping is changing with the development of optical frequency
standards and the resulting challenges of distributing time at ever higher
precision, with the possibility of timescales based on pulsars, and with
the inclusion of higher-order relativistic effects. The definition of the
second will likely be changed before the end of this decade, and its
realization will increase in accuracy; the definition of the day is no
longer obvious. The variability of the Earth's rotation presents challenges
of understanding and prediction. It is time to take a closer look at time
in astronomy and other sciences as a defining element of modern
civilization.

This symposium aims to set the stage for future timekeeping standards,
infrastructure, and engineering best practices for astronomers and the
broader society. At the same time the program will be cognizant of the rich
history from Harrison's chronometer to today's atomic clocks and pulsar
observations. The theoreticians and engineers of time will be brought
together with the educators and historians of science, enriching the
understanding of time among both experts and the public.

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Arnold H. Rots                                          Chandra X-ray
Science Center
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory                   tel:  +1 617 496
7701
60 Garden Street, MS 67                                      fax:  +1 617
495 7356
Cambridge, MA 02138
arots at cfa.harvard.edu
USA
http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~arots/
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