A common unit of time in astronomy is the solar day. Paradoxically, in the northern hemisphere solar days are longer in winter than they are in the summer. Can you see how this comes about?

Gnomon

A solar day is 24 hours as reckoned by the Sun, so it is the time from midnight to midnight or noon to noon based on the position of the sun in the sky. As the earth goes around the sun, it spins on its axis. It turns one full revolution on its axis in 23 hours and 56 minutes. But because the earth goes around the sun, the position of the sun against the background of other stars will have changed so the earth has to turn for another 4 minutes approximately in order to catch up and complete the solar day. Exactly how much it has to turn extra depends on the speed of the earth around the sun. The earth moves in an ellipse around the sun, with the sun at one of the two focuses of the ellipse. Not only is the Earth closer to the sun in Northern Hemisphere Winter, it moves faster as well. So the sun will appear to have moved further in the 23 hours 56 minutes and the earth will have to turn a little bit more to catch up, hence the solar days are longer in the (northern Hemisphere) winter. Dec 23 02, 7:57 AM

Create a Free FunTrivia ID to add to, request more/new answers, or edit this entry

On which planet in our Solar System does the period from sunrise to sunset last for three days, or three spins about that planet's axis? How is this possible? Which planet has a solar day of 9 hours and 50 minutes? Which planet in our solar system has the shortest day? Why don't the Mars rovers take pictures of the Martian sky and landscape at night? Is it because their solar panels can't store energy so they can only take pictures in the day time?

1 Basic Solar System Astronomy Test your knowledge on basic Solar System Astronomy. Our Solar System Average 10 Q almach Aug 03 01 9168 plays 2 The Northern Hemisphere My First Northern Quiz: This is an interesting quiz on the geography of the northern hemisphere. Physical Geography Very Difficult 10 Q junahb Jun 22 06 1587 plays 3 On A Clear Day You Can See Forever "On A Clear Day You Can See Forever" features music by Burton Lane and book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. It opened in 1965 and the original production ran for 280 performances. O Tough 10 Q anthonyrappfan Jul 17 06 96 plays