That's interesting. Thanks.  

-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Martin McCormick
Sent: Sunday, March 13, 2011 8:49 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: What really Happens to our Day (was daylight saving hoax )

Some of you might be interested in this especially those who are in to Earth
Science. There is no question that for most of us on Earth, the shortest and
longest days of the year occur on June
21 and December 21, give or take a day or two each year.  Around June 21, we
will have our longest day and the Southern half of the world will have it's
shortest day, but here is where things get a little interesting.

	Let's take December 21. The earliest Sunset is actually almost 2
weeks before that on December 7. By the 21ST, the Sunset is already 2 or 3
minutes later.

	The Sunrise time keeps getting later right through Christmas day and
stalls out around New Years day before slowly starting to get earlier.

	In June, we get our earliest Sunrise around the tenth and latest
Sunset around July 4. Those of you who are in to grey line DXing can keep
this in the back of your minds for reference.

	Now for why all this is so. 

	The Earth's orbit is elliptical. We are closest to the Sun on
January 4 and are furthest away on July 4 and that, of course is true
whether or not you are in the Northern or Southern hemisphere.

	As the Earth gets closer to the Sun in late December and Early
January, the Sun's position relative to us appears to change most rapidly
from one day to the next. As the Earth rotates, the Sun is not in the same
place it was yesterday. It is a moving target.

	It took me a long time to understand why this is so, but once you
understand it, it is not really that difficult.

	The reason why the first day of our seasons is not always on the
21ST of December, March, and June is that we measure it from when the Sun is
directly over the Equator or tropics so we just wait things out and call it
when it happens.
Since the year is about 365.25 days long, the magic moment doesn't hit at
the same times every year.

	Have a nice confusing day, now.

73 WB5agz