...in earth's northern hemisphere and also in the southern hemisphere although it is probably called something else there. Maybe kylie in Sydney will enlighten us.
It is the day with the least amount of daylight all year (the "shortest day") in the northern hemisphere and the day with the most amount of sunlight all year (the "longest day") in the southern hemisphere. It is also the first day of winter in the northern hemisphere and the first day of summer in the southern hemisphere.
Just for the record, sunrise in Canton, Georgia, today occurred at 7:40AM and sunset occurred at 5:32PM, a daylight period of 9 hours, 52 minutes. Because earth's axis is tilted approximately 23 and a half degrees off vertical, sunrise and sunset times vary according to one's latitude on the planet.
Since Atlanta is at 33.75 North latitude and Sydney is at 33.87 South latitude, one would expect Sydney's daylght hours to complement Atlanta's daylight hours, adding up to 24 hours, and one would be right. I checked. The sun rose at 5:41AM today in Sydney and it set at 8:06PM, a daylight period of 14 hours, 25 minutes. That Atlanta's daylight and Sydney's daylight on solstice day added together does not equal exactly 24 hours--it equals 24 hours, 17 minutes--can be attributed to minor differences in the two cities' distances above and below the equator.
On winter solstice day, everybody north of the Arctic circle experienced 24 hours of darkness, and everybody south of the Antarctic Circle experienced 24 hours of daylight. On summer solstice day in June, the very opposite is true.
These fascinating/boring facts (pick one) have been brought to you by your intrepid correspondent, rhymeswithplague, and there's a lot more where that came from.
PS - I do apologize for ignoring Beethoven's birthday this year.
The term darkness is somewhat vague. I was in Inuvik for 3 years and it doesn't get dark , just very dull. It's at 68.3499 latitude. The key is how far below the horizon the sun is.
ReplyDeleteI think it gets darker the farther north one would go, with the darkest point being at the Pole. I looked it up; Inuvik is only 2 degrees north of the Arctic Circle. I appreciate your testimony as one who has actually been in those regions. Thank you, Red.
DeleteFascinating facts, the details of which will not stick in my mind. I appreciate the gradual lengthening of the daylight hours .
ReplyDeleteI’m happy you found the post fascinating and not boring. My problem is that just about everything sticks in my mind. I much prefer daylight to darkness, although I do enjoy seeing the stars and planets on a clear night. Thank you, Janice!
DeleteI'm sure Ludwig will let it go... this time. I am a 'night' person". I would not like 24 hours of darkness. I like the contrast.
ReplyDeleteI may do a post soon on the.length of a day on each planet in our solar system (if I haven’t already done one—I’ll have to check). Some you would definitely like and some you would definitively hate. Thank you, Emma!
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