And yet, somehow sunrise in Wavre was the same as it is here

[conuly]

I'll never understand how sunrise and sunset work.

Also, be sure to do today's Google doodle. I could do that all day.

*********************

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Incredibly pictures of NYC when it was covered in farmland

'Human Project' study will ask 10,000 to share life's data

The App That Does Nothing

DNA reveals how cats achieved world domination

The ATU Fable Index: Like the Dewey Decimal System, But With More Ogres (I don't really care what happens in "Bunnies Beware of the King", but I'm more than a little perturbed that I can't even read the entire synopsis for 910J: Never plant a thorn tree.)

Chimps' cultural traditions extend beyond family

A Good News Story About Diarrhea — With One Surprising Exception

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Debate heats up over teaching climate change in US schools

Bosnian students keep up their protest against segregated schools

Afghan de-miners cling to hard but much-needed jobs

What Is the Point of Sean Spicer's Briefings? (I've got a question for Sean Spicer. "Do you know that you make yourself a laughingstock every time you hold one of these briefings? How much are you getting paid to shred your dignity to bits? Are you sure it's really worth it?" Damn, that's such a good question, rather than waiting for a journalist to ask it, I should send him a postcard. Or I could go traditional - "How do you sleep at night?" Postcards are cheap, I can send both questions.)

Iraqi forces advance on Mosul mosque where IS declared caliphate

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US interrogates detainees in Yemen prisons rife with torture

Comments

[isis]

Sunrise and sunset can be most easily figured out with a globe. The problem is that it happens in three dimensions but we tend to think of our spot on the earth in only two.

I am oddly tempted by the Binky app.

[conuly]

Yeah, but... like... it always makes intuitive sense that you gain on both ends as you approach midsummer, and then lose on both ends as you approach midwinter. And it doesn't happen like that. You might go backwards or stay put on one end while moving forward on the other.

[archangelbeth]

Ah, but here's where the axial tilt comes into play! I think. The combination of "the earth is spinning around" and "the earth is tilted" = sometimes the rotation + tilt = imbalanced distances between Sunrise and Midday vs. Midday and Sunset. I think. Don't quote me. >_>

Plus the designated Midday is mostly an approximation anyway on watches and stuff so who knows how *that's* influencing anything. O:p

[kengr]

Ok, I think you are confusing *clock* time and solar time.

Things like Daylight Saving Time and time zones mess things up a lot.

True solar time has non as the point when the sun is highest in the sky (or more properly, when it reaches the meridian (a north south line drawn across the sky))

The time between meridian crossings only varies by a few minutes over the course of the year. That's due to earth's orbit being elliptical.

Mean solar time evens out that variation. True solar time and mean solar time are identical at the solstices and equinoxes.

Sunrise and sunset don't quite change in unison. That's due to something else I can't recall at the moment.

To a first approximation, they get farther apart as you approach the summer solstice, and closer together as you approach the winter solstice.

But due to that other factor there's a bit of a lag or something. Latest sunset/earliest sunrise don't quite line up with the summer solstice.

But the difference is a matter of less than 15 minutes, maybe less than 10.

[conuly]

Yeah, it's not the difference between clock time and sun time.

Sunrise and sunset don't quite change in unison. That's due to something else I can't recall at the moment.

It's that! That's the part that gets me!

[conuly]

ALSO YES THAT APP IS SO TEMPTING.