International timekeepers are adding a second to the clock at midnight universal time Saturday, June 30. A combination of factors, including Earth slowing down a bit from the tidal pull of the moon, and an atomic clock that’s a hair too fast, means that periodically timekeepers have to synchronize the official atomic clocks.By SETH BORENSTEIN
AP Science Writer
WASHINGTON – Tonight will stretch longer by a second. A leap second.
International timekeepers are adding a second to the clock at midnight universal time Saturday, June 30, going into July 1. That’s 8 p.m. EDT Saturday. Universal time will be 11:59:59 and then the unusual reading of 11:59:60 before it hits midnight.
A combination of factors, including Earth slowing down a bit from the tidal pull of the moon, and an atomic clock that’s a hair too fast, means that periodically timekeepers have to synchronize the official atomic clocks, said Daniel Gambis, head of the Earth Orientation Service in Paris that coordinates leap seconds.