Days Getting Longer
Dec. 23rd, 2020 08:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerWith the winter solstice passing earlier this week, days are now getting longer. That's a relief because I'm tired of short days. Yeah, I live at just 37.4° N latitude so I don't have the worst of it, but it's still a drag. It's dark when my morning alarm wakes me up and it's dark before my workday ends.
Curiously, while the winter solstice is the shortest day and thus days are getting longer after it, the problem of "My morning alarm rings before sunrise" won't see progress for another 2 weeks or so. Despite the days getting longer, sunrise is still getting later! That's because, due to the tilt of the earth's axis and some other factors, the earliest sunset and latest sunrise do not both occur on the solstice (except near the north pole). At mid-northern latitudes, the earliest sunset happens 1-2 weeks ahead of time and the latest sunrise happens in early January, as science writer Deborah Byrd explains in an article on EarthSky.org.
Curiously, while the winter solstice is the shortest day and thus days are getting longer after it, the problem of "My morning alarm rings before sunrise" won't see progress for another 2 weeks or so. Despite the days getting longer, sunrise is still getting later! That's because, due to the tilt of the earth's axis and some other factors, the earliest sunset and latest sunrise do not both occur on the solstice (except near the north pole). At mid-northern latitudes, the earliest sunset happens 1-2 weeks ahead of time and the latest sunrise happens in early January, as science writer Deborah Byrd explains in an article on EarthSky.org.
