INTERNATIONAL EARTH ROTATION SERVICE (IERS)

               SERVICE INTERNATIONAL DE LA ROTATION TERRESTRE

BUREAU CENTRAL DE L'IERS
OBSERVATOIRE DE PARIS
61, Av. de l'Observatoire 75014 PARIS (France)
Tel.      : 33 (0) 1 40 51 22 26
FAX       : 33 (0) 1 40 51 22 91
Internet  : iers@obspm.fr
                                              Paris, 17 July 1998

                                              Bulletin C 16

                                              To authorities responsible for
                                              the measurement and distribution
                                              of time

                                   UTC TIME STEP
                            on the 1st of January 1999

       A positive leap second will be introduced at the end of December 1998.
       The sequence of dates of the UTC second markers will be:

                          1998 December 31,     23h 59m 59s
                          1998 December 31,     23h 59m 60s
                          1999 January   1,      0h  0m  0s

  The difference between UTC and the International Atomic Time TAI is:

  from 1997 July 1,    0h UTC, to 1999 January 1, 0h UTC  : UTC-TAI = - 31s
  from 1999 January 1, 0h UTC, until further notice       : UTC-TAI = - 32s

       Leap seconds can be introduced in UTC at the end of the months of
 December or June, depending on the evolution of UT1-TAI. Bulletin C mailed
 every six months, either to announce a time step in UTC, or to confirm that
 there will be no time step at the next possible date.

                                              Daniel GAMBIS
                                              Director
                                              Central Bureau of IERS

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