Tomorrow, Friday January 5, you will see the year’s latest sunrise, at about 7:22 AM by standard time – if you live at about latitude 40° north of Earth’s equator and if you, unlike the Sun, are an early riser.
“Early to bed and early to rise Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise”, quoth the complacently proverbial Benjamin Franklin.
So will tomorrow have the shortest span of daylight? No, that occurred at the solstice, back on December 22. And the earliest sunset – a third marker of midwinter – was on Dec. 8.
Our page on “latest and earliest sunrise and sunset” explains why these events do not coincide with the December and June solstices, and how their dates vary with latitude.
Pedantry Department
Cute birthday card, but which word needs to be corrected?
It doesn’t say “birthday” anywhere. So perhaps it’s a card congratulating the receiver on getting through a particularly bad day. If that’s the case (yes, a rather long and awkward stretch), “sun” should be replaced by “axis.”
“Tomorrow, Friday January 5, you will see the year’s latest sunrise, at about 7:22 AM by standard time.”
Well, yes and no.
Depending on where you are, east or west, in relation to the midline of your 15°-wide time zone mostly determines whether you’ll be minutes earlier or later than 7:22. Here in the Boston area, sunrise tomorrow will be at 7:13. Yes, it will be our latest sunrise of the year in Standard Time and, indeed, it’s the latest such sunrise for everyone – regardless of your time zone and your location within it.
But … as long as we’re talking about that artificial construct “clock time”, I must point out – and I know Guy, this is a sore point – that “by the clock” our latest sunrise in the Boston area this year actually occurs on the morning before we switch from Daylight Saving back to Standard Time, i.e., November 2nd, the first Saturday of the month.
That morning, the rooster crows when the clock reads 7:19 !
I’m going to guess “rotation”? Should be “revolution”?
That’s what I think too. Rotation is around its own axis; revolution is around another celestial body.
Rotation should be replaced by revolution or orbit.
Speaking of revolving, I was entertaining the thought of a planet orbiting a double star. If at the perfect distance from each star, the planet might fall into a figure 8 shaped orbit.
As the planet gets between the two stars it would be influenced by the gravity of the 2nd star, which would pull it away from the first star, thus forming the figure 8 shaped orbit. The only time night would would occur would be when the planet is on the outer half of each of the figure 8 circles.
This would be a challenge to the astronomers on that planet. They would have to take into account the relationships between the gravitational forces between the planet and each of the two stars. And you think your job is hard.
This is something to be solved by an expert in gravitatoal dynamics. I don’t know whether the planet would go into an 8-shaped orbit, or hover at the crossing of lines in the 8 – the Lagrangian point between the two stars.
I would say “rotation” needs correcting. We rotate on our axis as we orbit or revolve around the sun.
In my neck of the woods it’s latest sunset time (7 January).
‘Orbit’ rather than ‘rotation’?
Ah! Revolution, not rotation…
Rotation should be Orbit.
I consider the weeks between earliest sunset (this year it was December 6 here at 38 degrees north latitude) and latest sunrise to be the Yuletide. I always feel rather sluggish, and other than showing up for seasonal celebrations I don’t strive to accomplish too much. My energy usually picks up when the Sun starts rising noticeably earlier. The Sun is already setting ten minutes later than a month ago, that feels good.
I hope you didn’t respond to the well-wisher with a correction. They didn’t make the card, just picked it out, and it’s the thought that counts. At least it’s heliocentric.
I would have had enough sense to make no churlish pedantic response if that card had come by mail. But as the well-wisher was in the smme room I probably said something like “Thank you! – clever card – it should say I’ve made a ‘revolution’, but perhaps that could be misunderstood!”
Thanks were in order, and offered. All good!
Change rotation to revolution. Earth rotates on its axis but revolves around the Sun.
Revolution, not rotation.
Should be a revolution. Quality control lacking at greeting card central. LOL