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Geocentric Coordinate Time (TCG - Temps-coordonnée géocentrique) is acoordinatetime standard intended to be used as the independent variable of time for all calculations pertaining toprecession,nutation, theMoon, and artificialsatellites of theEarth. It is equivalent to theproper time experienced by a clock at rest in a coordinate frame co-moving with the center of the Earth[citation needed]: that is, a clock that performs exactly the same movements as the Earth but is outside the Earth'sgravity well. It is therefore not influenced by thegravitational time dilation caused by the Earth. The TCG is the time coordinate for theGeocentric Celestial Reference System (GCRS).[1]
TCG was defined in 1991 by theInternational Astronomical Union.[2] Unlike former astronomical time scales, TCG is defined in the context of thegeneral theory of relativity. The relationships between TCG and other relativistic time scales are defined with fully generalrelativisticmetrics.
Because the reference frame for TCG is not rotating with the surface of the Earth and not in thegravitational potential of the Earth, TCG ticks faster than clocks on the surface of the Earth by a factor of about 7.0 × 10−10 (about 22 milliseconds per year). Consequently, the values of physical constants to be used with calculations using TCG differ from the traditional values of physical constants. (The traditional values were in a sense wrong, incorporating corrections for the difference in time scales.) Adapting the large body of existing software to change from TDB (Barycentric Dynamical Time) to TCG is a formidable task, and as of 2002 many calculations continue to use TDB in some form.
Time coordinates on the TCG scale are conventionally specified using traditional means of specifying days, carried over from non-uniform time standards based on the rotation of the Earth. Specifically, bothJulian Dates and theGregorian calendar are used. For continuity with its predecessorEphemeris Time, TCG was set to match ET at around Julian Date 2443144.5 (1977-01-01T00Z). More precisely, it was defined that TCG instant 1977-01-01T00:00:32.184 exactly corresponds toTAI instant 1977-01-01T00:00:00.000 exactly. This is also the instant at which TAI introduced corrections for gravitational time dilation.
TCG is aPlatonic time scale: a theoretical ideal, not dependent on a particular realisation. For practical purposes, TCG must be realised by actual clocks in the Earth system. Because of the linear relationship betweenTerrestrial Time (TT) and TCG, the same clocks that realise TT also serve for TCG. See the article on TT for details of the relationship and how TT is realised.
Barycentric Coordinate Time (TCB) is the analog of TCG, used for calculations relating to the Solar System beyond Earth orbit. TCG is defined by a differentreference frame from TCB, such that they are not linearly related. Over the long term, TCG ticks more slowly than TCB by about 1.6 × 10−8 (about 0.5 seconds per year). In addition there are periodic variations, as Earth moves within the Solar System. When the Earth is atperihelion in January, TCG ticks even more slowly than it does on average, due to gravitational time dilation from being deeper in theSun's gravity well and alsovelocity time dilation from moving faster relative to the Sun. Ataphelion in July the opposite holds, with TCG ticking faster than it does on average.
