Time Zone and Saving Time Debate

Every year when people have to change their clocks to accommodate Daylight Saving Time renewed criticism arises calling for abolishment of the practice. Sometimes the argument is in concert with discussion about time zone changes for cities or states bordering a neighbor with a different time zone.

In 2005 I wrote an analemma-intensive response to a newspaper columnist's claims.

When we switched to Daylight Saving Time (DST) in 2020, I saw it more as Night Saving Time in that I got an extra hour of observing during reasonable hours to watch the star Betelgeuse brighten from its historic dimming. The night sky was "backed up" from what it had been at the same hour the previous night.

The DST and Time Zone arguments come around regularly--at least annually--so I post this 2005 commentary (PDF) for inclusion in the dialogue. It's not a personal stand, it's an observation to consider.