Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)


Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). For most purposes, UTC is considered interchangeable with GMT, but GMT is no longer precisely defined by the scientific community. UTC is used by international space organizations, satellites, and spacecraft to coordinate operations and data analysis. It is also used in the aviation industry, military, and other fields that require precise timing. UTC is based on atomic time, which is more accurate than solar time, and is adjusted periodically to account for the Earth's irregular rotation. Leap seconds are added to UTC to keep it within 0.9 seconds of Universal Time (UT1), which is based on the Earth's rotation.


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