The last word on this is that the Lat/Long system in tandem with the 24 hour system fits inside the calendar framework and uses noon as an anchor for converting the total length of the natural noon cycle to an average 24 hour day which in turns generates equable hours,minutes and seconds.

Stellar circumpolar motion is not anchored in anything other than the return of the stars using the average 24 hour day which happens to work with Lat/Long across the geometry and geography of the Earth.

The 23 hour 56 minute 04 second value uses the 24 hour average day and assigns cause directly between daily rotation and stellar circumpolar motion. The horrible notion is that the 3 minute 56 second drift occurs day on 24 hour day until there are more rotations than 24 hour days -

" It is a fact not generally known that,owing to the difference between solar and sidereal time,the Earth rotates upon its axis once more often than there are days in the year" NASA /Harvard


Instead of being anchored to noon with sunrise/sunset symmetrical to this event due to one rotation each day, the celestial sphere guys went their own way and conjured up something as dumb as that.

Needless to say, the nuisances in this newsgroup will have no input into discussing a Lat/Long and timekeeping system for Mars with Martian years/leap year, a Martian day with its own equable hours, minutes and seconds in order to fix events now and in future.