Site URL: http://astro.uchicago.edu/~frisch/

An Astronomer's Solution for the Millenium Bug - Y2K


February 15, 1998

Part I - The Problem
By now, everyone knows about the problem of the "Millenium Bug", when computer systems world-wide must transition date fields on computers to accomodate the years 2000 and greater. Two possible problems can result from this: (1) Businesses and individuals that don't adjust their software to accomodate this change may have an unexpected awakening to the next millenium.
(2) Undiscovered bugs in new software may be discovered world-wide at the same time,
on January 1, 2000. Part II - An Astronomer's Solution
Use Julian Days! Julian Days are used worldwide by astronomers as the reference date for astronomical observations. The Julian Day is given in the form "2450860.52", where "2450860" is the day since the beginning of the Julian Calendar (see below), and ".52" is the fraction of that day. For instance, the hour associated with the fractional day of 0.52 is 0.52 x 24 = 12.48 hours. To implement this solution, simple algorithms which convert from Julian Day to local time and date would be necessary (but astronomers have been using these for years).
Part III - Advantages of this solution
This solution allows all date changes to be made immediately, so that computer systems world-wide do not suddenly transition to new software all at the same time. This calendar has been in use for millenia, and implemented on computers by astronomers for as long as computers have existed. This calendar also avoids all complications of months and years of unequal lengths, and is easy to use numerically. Part IV - Julian Calendar
According to the 1929 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, Julian Days are numbered consecutively from the beginning of the "Julian era", January 1, 4713 B. C. The Julian day begins at noon, in Greenwich, England. See these sites for more on the Julian and other calendars Site 1. Site 2. Part V - Questions?
If you have any questions about this, please phone your local Planetarium. The name of Chicago's planetarium is the Adler Planetarium. Part VI - Other Y2K - Millenium Bug Links: (1), (2).

Acknowledgements:
This solution was developed, and this page written, with the assistance of one of the world's foremost commercial bankers, who is too shy to be identified by name on the world wide web.

[UC Astronomy homepage] [Frisch homepage] [email me]

Any opinions expressed on this page have nothing to do with the University of Chicago or the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Last Updated -- March 10, 1998