Time zones at thepoles

[flying dog]

Antarctica is pretty easy to work out.

 

But the Arctic.

 

Where/when does it go from GMT/Zulu time to local times?

 

Country borders?

 

WRT the south pole:

When does it go from Zulu to local time zones?

 

[facthunter]

There are Kinks in   the 180 E/W Longitude posn to make it work in a practical sense where settled areas are involved  near the NP . No idea with the south. . Magnetic is no where near the true pole.    Nev

[Bosi72]

I don't think anyone lives on the water permanently as the Arctic is not a landmass, it's a frozen body of water which gets partly melted seasonally, but let's not get into that..

 

I guess whatever ships/subs/research stations/etc are there will run on their own home country time.

 

However what puzzles me more, are the timezones of the roadhouses along the Nullarbor..

[FlyBoy1960]

I would like to know if you are standing at the flag at the South Pole which way is South because no matter where you walk you are going north so how could you find your way back home from the South Pole ?

[Bosi72]

Use your watch. If the Sun is above(peak) at noon, then you're in good direction.

Edited July 19 by Bosi72

[FlyBoy1960]

the sun will never be above you at the poles ?

[Bosi72]

i thought we are discussing the concepts, not real-life scenario.

 

however if you somehow got teleported to the pole flag during the polar day, walk in one direction until notice the difference (it will be a long walk), record sun position at noon(sunrise/sunset) then use triangulation to turn into correct direction. 

 

if you don't see the sun at watch's noon, then return back to the pole flag and walk in opposite direction.

 

you can use watch and star constellations for navigation at nights, but you will have to know its position seen from your home at the same day.

[Bosi72]

Let me use plain language.

 

So let's say you live in Melbourne and it is noon, your watch is showing noon and the Sun is (approximately) at the Zenith above. 

 

Now, lets say at the same moment you are at the South pole flag and surely if you walk towards the Sun, this is where Melbourne is.

 

Contrary-wise, at the same time it is a midnight in South America, so Sun definitely won't be there.

 

At the same time it is mid-morning in Perth (-2hrs) and mid-afternoon in New Zealand (+2hrs). 

 

Since 360deg / 24hrs = 15deg, to go to Perth you will need to turn 30deg to the left, or if you want to go to New Zealand you will have to turn 30deg right.

 

So watch is the key.

Hope that make more sense.

 

 

 

Edited July 19 by Bosi72

[Deano747]

Needs an analogue solution.

Take your watch off and close your eyes. 

Spin your watch around over your head clockwise (hence the need for an analogue watch so you can figure out 'clockwise') while spinning yourself anti-clockwise 3 rotations. 

Open your eyes and let the watch go.

Note in which direction it went and turn so your left shoulder is facing that direction.

The watch would have 'Gone West' so you are now facing North. 

Simples......

 

[flying dog]

😞

 

If I am in Sydney and ask "What time is it in WA I can get a pretty well understood simple answer.

 

If I ask what time is it in Germany, France, Fiji, Egypt, Chad (and so on) I get a KNOWN answer.

 

So if I ask "What time is it in the Arctic", what:  It depends?

 

C'mon....

 

I think it was when I was doing my BAK and time zones were mentioned.

Antarctic (all of it) is  ZULU.

 

So yes, I am drawing a long bow with the question, but.....

 

How far from the south pole does this rule extend?

 

Just the area to where the ice ends?  Or to a specific latitude?

 

And so then I draw another longbow and ask  if it is the same for the north pole.

And as that is connected to countries, is it different that once you enter a country, the time changes to that country's time?

 

I thought you lot - being aviators - would already understand that part and it wouldn't need explaining.

But - as usual - I was wrong.

[Bosi72]

1 hour ago, flying dog said:

Antarctic (all of it) is  ZULU

Nope, MAWT Mawson Time Zone is UTC+5

 

https://www.antarctica.gov.au/antarctic-operations/stations/mawson/

 

 

And here is the list of all research stations and corresponding time zones in Antarctica.

 

 https://www.timeanddate.com/time/zone/antarctica

 

As we speak, millions of people in India, Philippines, and other countries are living and working in different time zones (US,EU,Aus).

 

Time is relative.

 

 

 

Edited July 19 by Bosi72

[flying dog]

So it would seem that since 1988.... ? When I did my BAK, things have changed.

 

Ok.

 

So why weren't those links posted originally in the replies?

 

1 hour ago, Bosi72 said:

As we speak, millions of people in India, Philippines, and other countries are living and working in different time zones (US,EU,Aus).

 

Yes, but (unless they have two time zones in that area) I will get ONE answer.

 

Not "It depends" as I was given in the original replies.

 

And also:

The Arctic.

What's it's timezone rules?

[FlyingVizsla]

This information comes from https://odin.tradoc.army.mil/DATE/40c800771ac43b56f79591c715cf165c

 

 

"By convention, Greenwich Mean Time (GMT +0) (ZULU) is used at the pole itself, although some polar expeditions use whichever time zone is convenient, such as the time zone of the country from which they departed. Donovia's Arctic regions span seven time zones; Greenland and Canada's Arctic regions each span four. Arctic daylight hours are also exaggerated compared to lower latitudes. The vast majority of the Arctic population is concentrated in time zones GMT +1 (ALFA), GMT +2 (BRAVO), and GMT+3 (CHARLIE)."

 

So you can understand when people say "it depends", the time zone is often set by the person/country, regardless of "Convention"

 

My father spent 3 years in Antarctica in the 1960's when communication with the mainland was by coded Morse code (we had a code book to write messages for him once a month).  Time for the Expeditioners meant nothing, unless you were the Weather Observers, work went on regardless of the official time, which I remember him saying was Tasmanian time, being the ANARE head quarters.  No one was flying there.

[facthunter]

You won't see the SUN at either pole in winter. (for that respective pole)..  Nev

[Bosi72]

I believe they still teach how to use sextant for navigation at some yacht or marine clubs, also, have a look at this video:

 

 

[flying dog]

I started to watch that.   It looked good and good on the guy who is trying to do it.

 

But he babbles on and on and on and repeats himself so many times, it is painful to watch.