I’m just reading an email notice about the Aurigid meteor shower, expected in the next day or two. Here’s what it says:
… the peak is due around 4:30 a.m. PDT (11:30 UT) on Saturday morning. …
I grew up in New Zealand, mainly, where we use AM and PM for times of the day — a 12 hour clock — but at the age of 20 I landed in Germany for a year. I found I needed to learn to use the 24 hour clock.
In Christchurch, NZ, bus timetables specified 6 am or 6 pm, but in Düsseldorf, Deutschland, where I lived for a year, those buses ran at 0600 or 1800. What a delight! Once I got the hang of the 24 hour clock I never went back. Why would anyone struggle with am and pm, with all its ambiguities?
So, I’m grateful to the US-based email newsletter for specifying that the Aurigids will peak at 11:30 UT on 1 September. For NZ time just add round about 12 hours.
But, heck! Is that 11:30 or 23:30 to which I’m adding 12? Let the sums begin!
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Having managed 24/7 helpdesk teams in the US in a previous life, my money’s on the 11:30 rather than 23:30. I’m sure you could find out in an instant at the always useful timeanddate.com
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