The Schedules panel lets you graphically compare the time in multiple time zones over a 24 hour period. This lets you pick the best time to schedule an international conference call. You can also calculate the elapsed time between events in different time zones.

Using the Scheduler

Given a base location, date and time, the scheduler determines the local time in up to six other cities, and displays a "daylight graph," to quickly see the time of day in the selected cities.

By moving the slider from left to right, you can alter the base location's time in 15 minute increments over the course of the selected date. In doing so, the local times in the other six cities will change to reflect the new time relative to the base location.

Each of the Daylight Graphs show varying degrees of darkness representing night, astronomical twilight, nautical twilight, civil twilight and daylight. (These terms are described in the Almanac section). The red indicator will move to correspond to the current local time. Above each graph, the date and time is displayed in a text format.

To determine the best time for an international conference call, set the Base Location to the originating city. Set each of the six "graph" cities to a different location to be included in the call. Move the slider until all of the red lines fall into an acceptable time.

Visually, it may be helpful to set one of the "graph" cities to be the same as the Base Location.

Using the Elapsed Time Calculator

The lower portion of the Schedules panel is used to determine the elapsed time between events in different time zones. Enter the date and time for each location. Optionally, you can check the "Now" box and the date and time will be set to the current local time.

This feature is especially useful for determining the length of airline flights, as the departure and arrival times are given local to their respective cities.