It turns out that "Beijing Time" was created by them

"It is 19:00 Beijing time now."

You must have heard this time signal countless times

But you may not know

"Beijing Time" does not exist naturally

Its birth condenses the efforts of scientific researchers

Recently, CCTV's "My Home, My Country" column interviewed

Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, known as the "Mother of Beijing Time"

Ye Shuhua, the pioneer of astro-geodynamics in my country

Ye Shuhua recalls the time measurement: It was very difficult at that time

Ye Shuhua was born in 1927 and has been engaged in my country's astronomy for 70 years. Today, she still appears in the office of the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences every day.

When Ye Shuhua first came to the Xujiahui Observatory (now the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory), he was doing time measurement. As for the claim that he created "Beijing Time", Ye Shuhua said it was not accurate, "It was not just me, but several people who did it together."

In cutting-edge fields such as national defense and surveying and mapping, the timing accuracy is required to reach one thousandth of a second or even smaller. However, at the beginning of the founding of New China, the accuracy of my country's time measurement was at the bottom of the world. Ye Shuhua recalled, "It was actually very difficult at that time. On the one hand, we had no money and could not buy good things. On the other hand, our technology was also very poor."

“Once you know the value of your work

I will devote myself wholeheartedly.”

Since 1958, the Xujiahui Observatory has been preparing to build a comprehensive world time system, and 32-year-old Ye Shuhua took on the heavy responsibility of this work. Time measurement is a boring and meticulous job. Observers have to track the stars intently and record them at the same time. The quality of tracking the stars directly affects the accuracy of observation.

The petite Ye Shuhua had a hard time operating the huge equipment, so she added a wooden board and stood on it to track and observe the stars, regardless of the weather. In addition, Ye Shuhua also improved the calculation method to ensure long-term stability of the measurement.

Ye Shuhua said: "Once you know the value of your work, you will devote yourself to it wholeheartedly."

Since 1964, my country's world time measurement accuracy has ranked second in the world. One year later, my country's "Integrated World Time" system passed the national appraisal and was officially released to the whole country as a time standard. "Beijing Time" has been used since then.

Source: CCTV News WeChat Official Account (ID: cctvnewscenter) Comprehensive "My Home, My Country"

Producer/Li Zhe Editor-in-chief/Wang Shuo

Editor/Wang Xuan

©CCTV News

Salute to the scientific researchers! ↓↓↓