yes,The earth suddenly started spinning faster。
According to TimeAndDate.com, the Earth rotated 1.59 milliseconds less than 24 hours on June 29, 2022 UTC. It’s the shortest ever recorded by scientists.
This goes once morest the long-term trend of a gradual slowing of the Earth’s rotation caused by tides, magma flows, melting ice caps, and other factors that introduce friction.
The speed of the Earth’s rotation is measured relative to the length of the day specified by atomic clocks.this isDelta-TA numerical value called (delta T), which represents the difference between the theoretical value of the earth’s rotation in one day (24 hours) and the actually measured value (reference:National Astronomical Observatory materials）。
But atomic clocks cannot be used to measure the ancient Earth’s rotational speed. To calculate it, we need historical records of solar eclipses.
Newly published in the Journal of the Pacific Astronomical SocietyPublished paperis the result of a study of Byzantine literature. Researchers were looking for official records of solar eclipses around the eastern Mediterranean between the 4th and 7th centuries, when few detailed records of solar eclipses have been found.
One of the authors, Associate Professor Koji Murata of the University of Tsukuba, said, “Most direct eyewitness testimony from this era has been lost, but quotes and translations recorded by people in later generations provide valuable information.” WhenSays. “In addition to reliable position and time information, we needed confirmation of the totality of the eclipse.”
“Total state” refers to the state in which the moon completely blocks the sun in the event of a solar eclipse. It won’t be really dark, but there will be twilight, when you can see bright stars and planets, and even see the corona that glows around the Sun.
The next total solar eclipse is expected to be observed in Western Australia, East Timor and West Papua on April 20, 2023.
Researchers have found details of when and where five total solar eclipses may have occurred in the years 346, 418, 484, 601 and 693 AD.
At that time, they needed to obtain information on “Delta-T”. This is important information in calculating where on Earth the totality passes. If this number is different, the passing point of the totality state will shift greatly to the east or west. Changes in Delta-T tell us the length of a day on Earth.
One new total solar eclipse discovered by researchers this time occurred on July 19, 418 AD. Ancient texts said that stars were visible in the daytime sky as seen from Constantinople (now Istanbul). This information was very important, as the Delta-T values previously considered placed Constantinople outside the total solar belt. Therefore, the value of Delta-T in the 5th century must have been different than previously thought, allowing scientists to better record changes in the Earth’s rotational speed throughout history. rice field.
“Our results show that the Delta-T of the 5th century should be revised upwards, and the Delta-Ts of the 6th and 7th centuries should be revised downwards,” says Murata.
