CHICAGO — Excellent news, Chicago: Our earliest sundown is behind us.
Sunday marked the earliest sundown of the yr for Chicago, round 4:21 p.m. Monday’s sundown will probably be roughly one second later, in response to Dawn Sundown, a web site that tracks dawn and sundown occasions.
Even because the solar begins to set later, the times will get shorter till Dec. 21. That day can have 9 hours, 10 minutes and 59 seconds of daylight, making it town’s “shortest day” of the yr.
Because the sundown time pushes again a few minutes, it’s additionally taking longer for the solar to rise. Whereas it rose at 7:05 a.m. Monday, it should rise at 7:13 a.m. Dec. 21, transferring a lot sooner than the sundown time.
These misalignments between dawn and sundown and between earliest sundown and Chicago’s “shortest day” are as a result of the solar is out of sync with our 24-hour clocks. A photo voltaic day might be longer or shorter than a 24-hour day by 30 seconds, in response to the Washington Submit.
Meaning the photo voltaic midday, which measures the solar’s highest level, can differ from the common by as much as half-hour on a given day. Within the winter months, because the photo voltaic midday will get pushed later, the dawn time is delayed extra because the sundown time pushes again, in response to the Submit. It’s why even after Chicago passes one darkish deadline, one other looms.
The excellent news is that town won’t ever drop beneath 9 hours of daylight — however it should take till Feb. 1 for Chicago to see 10 hours of daylight once more.
Darkish days obtained you down? Take a look at our suggestions for battling seasonal despair right here.
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