How to get time from Oracle?

Hello all,

        I want to get system time from the Oracle. I use "select to_char(sysdate, 'HH:MM:SS') from dual" in the SQL*PLUS. The first result was "02:02:50". Later, I typed the above command again and the result was "02:02:55". However, when I typed the command a few second later, the result was "02:02:02". Why the system time seems running in cycle? Also, is the sysdate function get time from the UNIX OS? (Oracle is running on UNIX) If I want to change the system time in Oracle, how can I do that?

THanks,
Jimmy Received on Thu Feb 19 1998 - 00:00:00 CST