(?:\s+|[-:Tt]) # separator before clock (\d\d?):?(\d\d) # hour:min (?::?(\d\d(?:\.\d*)?))? # optional seconds (and fractional) )? # optional clock \s* (?: ([-+]?\d\d?:?(:?\d\d)? |Z|z) # timezone (Z is "zero meridian", i.e. GMT) \s* )?$c