Brrrrr! First Day of Winter Astronomy Picture for Today

nasa ^ | 12/21/2005 | DG

[HOTTIEBOY]

Sunrise by Season
Credit & Copyright: Anthony Ayiomamitis
Explanation: Does the Sun always rise in the same direction? No. As the seasons change, the direction toward the rising Sun will change, too. The Sun will always rise and set furthest to the south during the day of Winter Solstice, and furthest to the north during Summer Solstice. Today is Winter Solstice, the day of least sunlight in the Northern Hemisphere and of most sunlight in the Southern Hemisphere. In many countries, the Winter Solstice brings a change in season, as it is the first day of winter in the North. The solar heating and stored energy in the Earth's surface and atmosphere is near its lowest during winter, making it usually the coldest months of the year. On the brighter side in the north, daylight hours will increase every day from now until June. Pictured above are the different directions of the rising sun throughout the year above a small town in Greece.

[HOTTIEBOY]

First Day of Winter. This taken from NASA website. Click the link for daily pictures way back to 1995. Very interesting info contained in hyperlinks

Here is the entire archive.

[HOTTIEBOY]

PING



Freepmail me is you would like on or off this ping list.

[Museum Twenty]

Very interesting -- bump!

[1Old Pro]

On the brighter side in the north, daylight hours will increase every day from now until June

Yes, but we gain very little per day in January, a bit more in February, and in March we really start to notice the difference.

[HOTTIEBOY]

[1Old Pro]

It also depends on your "location".

[HOTTIEBOY]

According to the chart above, we do gain daylight a little faster in March and April as opposed to January and February. I theory is that as the year orbits around the sun, the axis changes. This is what causes seasons. But the Earth is not perfectly round, having a sharper radius at the equator.
The table shows we gain about one minute per day and a half in Jan and Feb at sunset and one minute per day at sunset for March an April.

[HOTTIEBOY]

I theory is that as the year orbits around the sun, the axis changes.

Should say: My theory is that as the earth orbits around the sun, the axis changes.

[HOTTIEBOY]

This table is for Charlotte NC. According to the author, you would add seven minutes per one hundred miles west and subtract seven minutes per one hundred miles east until you get to another time zone. Then You would add or subtract an hour.

[fnord]

thanks for the ping!

[bmwcyle]

Merry Christmas and thanks

[scrabblehack]

My understanding is that the tilt of the axis changes.

[strategofr]

"we do gain daylight a little faster in March and April as opposed to January and February"


I don't know much, but the Earth's orbit is ellipical, not round. That could be the cause (though the deviation from the circular is actually small.)