Thanks! I knew that GMT stood for Greenwich Mean Time, so I assumed that an unusually precise person like Hermione would think "Greenwich." (The way a precise American would say "Eastern Standard" instead of "EST.) But I'll change it.
Well, if she were being really pretentious, she might say 'Greenwich Mean Time', but probably she'd go with GMT. Which, since we have only one time zone in the UK, is already more precise than most would bother to be.
Point taken. But it's important that she be that precise here, because -- well, maybe I'll try to let you figure it out. Here's a hint: I almost used the phrase "Universal Time, "which is what astronomers call GMT.
I'd wondered if it was significant at the time, as you seemed to be making such a point of mentioning it. I would expect the magical world to ignore British summer time but as Hermione was living with her parents an the last witch alive, I would also expect her to use BST again.
Last clue: She thought of it as GMT (or rather, Universal Time) because she needed to know it at the moment she performed the anchor charm. Further sayeth this deponent not.
1403 hours, 21 June 1998 (Universal Time), was the exact moment of the Summer Solstice. The underlying theory is that the Reflective Curse operates only when the poles are aligned with the Sun, which happens only at the solstices.
Wow. You see, that's the difference between you and me as writers. I make that sort of stuff up. You do the research and the maths and get it right. I don't think I ever heard the expression Universal Time when I was doing my physics - is it a new concept? Or just one for only very specialised astronomers?
Well, I do make up spells. But I got so upset at JKR for doing no basic, easy research at all for her Astronomy OWLs in OoTP that I promised myself the astronomy in my fics would be impeccable.
Universal Time wouldn't be of much use to astrophysicists or cosmologists -- but all observational astronomers, as well as astronomers who are plotting the orbits of bodies around the sun, need it. You need a standard reference point (referred to, in orbital astronomy, as an "epoch") in order to locate things. By general agreement, any time reading listed in an astronomical observation or prediction, unless otherwise noted, is assumed to be in UT. If JKR really knew anything about astronomy, this is something Hermione et. al. would have learned in their five years of astronomy. (What I wouldn't give to have had five years of astronomy!) Open any issue of Sky & Telescope and you'll see endless references to UT.
But still a great story.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
This is such a brilliant idea for a story. I liked the firtst version but I think the additions make it even smoother.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
1403 hours, 21 June 1998 (Universal Time), was the exact moment of the Summer Solstice. The underlying theory is that the Reflective Curse operates only when the poles are aligned with the Sun, which happens only at the solstices.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Universal Time wouldn't be of much use to astrophysicists or cosmologists -- but all observational astronomers, as well as astronomers who are plotting the orbits of bodies around the sun, need it. You need a standard reference point (referred to, in orbital astronomy, as an "epoch") in order to locate things. By general agreement, any time reading listed in an astronomical observation or prediction, unless otherwise noted, is assumed to be in UT. If JKR really knew anything about astronomy, this is something Hermione et. al. would have learned in their five years of astronomy. (What I wouldn't give to have had five years of astronomy!) Open any issue of Sky & Telescope and you'll see endless references to UT.
Reply
Leave a comment