Sunsets are getting later

Sunday 11 December 2005 10:44 CST David Braverman

In the Northern hemisphere, yesterday's was the earliest sunset of the year. Kieron Taylor, writing for the Sheffield Astronomical Society in the U.K., has a pretty good explanation of why this is so. Suffice to say, it's because the earth's orbit around the sun is elliptical.

Here, then, is a quick chart of the shortest days of the year, for Evanston, Illinois:

Date	Significance	Sunrise	Sunset	Daylight
4 Dec	Earliest sunsets start	07:02	16:19	9:16
13 Dec	Sunsets get later	07:10	16:20	9:09
21 Dec	Solstice, 18:35 UTC	07:16	16:22	9:06
30 Dec	Latest sunrises start	07:19	16:28	9:09
8 Jan	Sunrises get earlier	07:18	16:37	9:18
28 Jan	5pm sunset	07:07	17:00	9:53
4 Feb	7am sunrise	07:00	17:09	10:09

You can get sunrise information for your location at wx-now.com.

Modified: Friday 16 October 2015 15:52 CDT

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