TSEpoch: An object oriented design for representing time

We present a method for safely handling the numerous time standards (UTC, TDB, TDT, Spacecraft Clocks, etc.) involved in space science data analysis. We define an instant of time as an opaque object (TSEpoch) that can only be represented by choosing a time system to represent it in. This removes the ambiguities and confusions of handling time as a primitive type in a large and complex code base. Timestamps, usually individual spacecraft clock times, are converted to TSEpoch objects when ingested into our analysis code, and only converted back to a time system when displayed to the end user. In some circumstances, of course, calculation speed is of the greatest importance; therefore we also discuss our framework for interfacing the TSEpoch class with a computationally efficient primitive representation of time.