Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Take a Break: Track Sunsets and Sunrises


Now that we’ve started the count to summer-my husband refers to Winter Solstice as the first day of summer- it does me a world of good to see how the days are getting longer.

 

Because we were trying to watch the "great conjunction" of Jupiter and Saturn, or “Christmas Star 2020,” on Dec. 21, I was paying close attention to the time of sunset. That was to be the best time to see this once in 800 year astronomy event. I noticed that within a day, sunset went from 4:17 to 4:18 and today, Dec. 30, it’s 4:23.

 

Interestingly, it seems that sunrise seems to be remaining around the 7:20 mark. To understand why we see daylight extending at the end of the day versus the beginning check out:

 Why Isn’t the Year’s Earliest Sunset on the Winter Solstice? 

Why sunrise gets later in early January, even though the days are getting longer. 

 

With such short cold days, I enjoy knowing that since Dec. 21 we’ve gained 6 more minutes of daylight in my part of the world.

 

While I just use my cell phone to make note of sunset/sunrise, you can also just google it for your part of the planet.

 

Not interested in today’s activities, try the Take a Break Pinterest Board.

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