The Myth of Equal Days and Nights

[linuxdoctor]

At this time of year one of the things that you keep hearing a lot about is how at the Vernal Equinox, or the first day of Spring for mere plebians, the length of the day and the length of the night are both equal every place on Earth. They go on to say that the length of the day and night is equal all year round on the equator. Well, sorry to burst any bubbles, but both of these notions are false.

The truth is, the length of the day and night is never equal at any time even on the equator. This amazing fact is because while the earth is rotating it is also moving around the sun. When the Sun is at noon on one day by the time the Earth has rotated once on it's access so that it is facing the same direction it did the previous day the Sun would not longer be there. It has, in fact, moved about two and a half million kilometers away from where it was previously. For the the Sun to be again in the noon position in the sky the Earth would have to rotate a little more by about four minutes.

We measure our time in terms of the Solar Day the time it takes the Sun to be in the noon position in the sky on one day to the being in the noon position on the next day. We call that 24 solar hours. The time the earth takes to rotate once on its axis is called the Sidereal Day and is about 4 (solar) minutes shorter than the Solar Day.

This effect also affects the length of the day and the length of the night. When the Sun rises in the morning the earth is pointing in that particular direction. If the earth were just rotating but otherwise standing still the Sun would set exactly twelve hours later (at the equator that is). But since it is not standing still the same thing that causes to the Sun to move further each day in the sky from noon to noon causes the Sun to set earlier in the day by about seven minutes. Yes, seven minutes. This, of course, has the opposite effect on the night in that the Sun will be rising earlier the following day again by about seven minutes. This means that the length of the day at the equator is about 12 hours and seven minutes and the length of the night is 11 hours and 53 minutes and not twelve hours each.

This, of course, has an effect everywhere else too. It means that far from the days being equal on the Vernal Equinox and, by extension, the Autumnal Equinox they will share the same inequality that the equator has, namely, a day that is 12h7m long and a night that is 11h53 minutes long.
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Misanthrope: someone who realizes that humans really are as stupid as they appear.

If you think I'm 'politically' incorrect you have the wrong politics.

[pharmer4]

I don't think that is much of a revelation for anyone, actually, since most people are intelligent enough to know that most "phenomena" that are invented by human are only inventions of convenience (very much like religion).

So while everyone makes claims such as the ides of march being equal amount of sunlight and darkness, or that Australia is the biggest island, or that the earth is round, or that dieties of any particular popularity or inventiveness actually exist, most sensible people are able to deduce that these are generalisations that are either close to the mark for ease of understanding by the general populace, or inventions for subduing the masses (yep, religion again).

And for the people who are not sensible enough to realise these things, well, who cares about them?
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[img:d85b591d6d]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v400/pharmer4/pharmer4.jpg[/img:d85b591d6d]

[linuxdoctor]

You're trying to push my buttons, aren't you? Turn about is fair play they say.

I agree with you on all points. All religion is man made except for Christianity (that is to say Catholicism not Protestantism which is not Christianity at all but heresy) which was made for man by God.

As for your last statement about not caring about nonsensible people, I couldn't agree with you more. It can be quite satisfying to know that people are living out their unknowing lives not knowing the things that we know or even knowing that we know them and not knowing that we know that they do not know the things that we do know and are quite happy to know that they don't know the things that we know and they don't know.
_________________
Misanthrope: someone who realizes that humans really are as stupid as they appear.

If you think I'm 'politically' incorrect you have the wrong politics.