We Love Atomic Clocks

Online Clock loves atomic clocks - and you should too!

The phrase “Atomic Clock” conjures images of a massive machine of destruction that’s counting down the time to the apocalypse, existing in a movie set in some gritty cyberpunk world with a dark hero named with a single syllable name like “Edge” or “Spike”. During the movie, Edge is racing against the Atomic Clock of World Destruction ™ and turns into some unwitting Robin Hood.

Or…maybe…it’s just me.

Maybe some of you actually think of something that has hands, numbers, and a biohazard sticker when you hear the phrase “Atomic Clock“.

Just me again? OK…moving on.

Many people also mistakenly refer to radio-controlled clocks as atomic clocks. Clocks and watches you buy that update themselves with the correct time automatically do show, on the average, much more accurate time than your normal clocks and watches. However, they are themselves not atomic clocks. (Though the time servers sending out radio signals to these clocks and watches might indeed update their own clocks with the help from time servers that are helped along by atomic clocks.)

We wanted to sum up what atomic clocks are and to explain to you why Online Clock currently has a love affair with them (ulp).

A photo for the history books: the world's first atomic clock, taken in 1949.

The atomic clock was originally the brainchild of Lord Kelvin in 1879. He was a dude who thought, “Mmm…wouldn’t it be freaking awesome to build a clock that uses atomic vibrations to keep time instead of that lame mechanical crap?”

The rest of the world said, “Yeah, whatever, man. Build it or shut up and pass the wine.”

In the 1930s, Isidor Rabi thought that the key to creating an atomic clock might reside in magnetic resonance. But it wasn’t until much later, in 1949, that the first actual atomic clock was created using his technique. It was considered an “ammonia maser” based device. Note: maser does not stand for “man laser” no matter how cool it would be if it did.

If you look at the Wikipedia article for “maser” you’ll be hit with a wall of large complicated words. Let me spare you that. Maser is an acronym for Microwave Amplification by Stimulation Emission of Radiation. Those of us who are inclined toward the geeky side of life will recall that laser is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulation Emission of Radiation. Masers are lasers that use microwaves, but still don’t pop your popcorn. (Hmmm…,maybe it will pop popcorn. Ask a physicist, for crying out loud. This is a clock site and we are not scientists, though we play one on TV.)

Maser (Microwave Amplification by Stimulation Emission of Radiation)

Candid photo of a Maser in its natural habitat (a science lab).

The 1949 Atomic Clock was less accurate than the commonly used quartz clocks. At which point the world said, “OK. That’s pretty cool, but make it better or shut up and pass the wine.” Much to the joy of clock lovers everywhere, 1949 was just before 1950. And, 1950 a booming time for all things atomic. Work on the “atomic clock” exploded. All sorts of clocks were created right next to prototypes of flying cars and “space age polymers”. In 1952, a clock based upon the vibrations of the cesium atom was created and named NBS-1. By then end of the 1950s, “atomic clocks” cost around $20,000. Not exactly a “family friendly” price. (And you get our awesome online service for free. Who came up with that business model?)

The atomic clock endured a few more incarnations in the 1960s. The clock became more accurate and in 1967 the 13th Conference of Weights and Measurements threw the sun out the window. They declared that one second was to be measured by the vibrations of an cesium atom. Time was no longer based on the revolutions of astrological bodies!

Fast forward through a few more incarnations and in 1975 the atomic clock NBS-6 was the most accurate clock in the world. It wouldn’t lose or gain a second in 300,000 years. But this was still not accurate enough for the public. Seriously, Lord Kelvin didn’t stand a chance.

In 1999, the scientific community finally developed the NIST-F1. This clock is currently the most accurate clock ever invented, since it will won’t gain or lose a second in 20 million years. (Now that, is cool!) The NIST-F1 doesn’t need a biohazard sticker, either.

Here's a photo of the NIST-F1 Atomic Clock located in Boulder, Colorado. Sexy little beast, isn't it? (We think so...)

When the The NIST-F1 was released, the time-loving public rejoiced and drank some wine in celebration.

And hey, did you know that you can also use Online Clock to show amazingly accurate time on your computer?

We use your computer’s own time settings to display the time on all of our online alarm clocks, so all you have to do, in order to show extremely accurate time using OnlineClock.net, is to set your computer’s clock to automatically update itself once in awhile using an internet time server. (No, this isn’t as accurate as the time shown by the NIST-F1, but we’re getting there.) See our full blog post entitled “Time Server Sync Your Computer” for detailed information on how to do this!

Find out more about atomic clocks on the Time & Frequency Division website from the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST).

If you have a question about atomic clocks, these are the dudes to talk to.

Hey, we’ve surely oversimplified the subject of atomic clocks in this blog article, and we’ve kind of had to in order to cover all the ground that we’ve discussed in such a short amount of time. If you’re interested in the subject of how time is most accurately measured, we can’t encourage you enough to visit the NIST website, as well as the website from the United States Naval Observatory’s Time Service Department for more information.

If the sometimes very flippant tone of our blog post here has managed to pique a serious interest in this subject for a few of you, then we’re happy.