Summer Solstice Sunset

Comments

1. Willy says:
   June 21, 2008 at 11:19 pm

   Happy Solstice Everyone. Hope Y’all have a happy summer.
2. Penny says:
   June 21, 2008 at 11:26 pm

   Absoultly beautiful

   Happy summer everyone :)
3. chang, who is not chang says:
   June 22, 2008 at 12:20 am

   O Great Scalzi, the Executive Committee of The Official Ghlaghghee Fan Club refrained from commenting on Mighty Lopsided Cat being plunged.

   We know you have a short attention span and also that you are testing our patience. Sort of like dragging a half-moose carcass in front of Mighty Lopsided Cat, actually.

   But damn, your new splash picture of Him has got to be just about the funniest thing you’ve ever posted.

   You don’t get a Seal of Approval Award due to your obstreperousness, but it was a close thing. The Executive Committee had to exercise veto power over the membership.

   The Official Ghlaghghee Fan Club
4. Linda Seebach says:
   June 22, 2008 at 2:07 am

   “Latest”? Are you sure? Around the time of the winter solstice, the earliest sunset comes about three weeks earlier than the shortest day, and the latest sunrise about three weeks later. The shortest day is when the two curves are closest, not the max or min for either.

   I can’t wrap my head around the geometry well enough to say whether the latest sunset around the summer solstice is earlier or later, but I would think the pattern of curve-shifting would have to be the same.
5. David Goldfarb says:
   June 22, 2008 at 3:38 am

   I was going to make the same point, Linda. I happen to know (and have just confirmed by Googling) that the latest sunset is later than the solstice — this year, on June 27.
6. Anonymous says:
   June 22, 2008 at 5:47 am

   Ah, the accursed Daystar’s long reign of terror is coming to it’s end. Soon we will have the blessed night again!
7. John Scalzi says:
   June 22, 2008 at 8:49 am

   Linda, David:

   Oh, sure. Ruin my entry with facts, why don’t you.
8. rallycap says:
   June 22, 2008 at 10:39 am

   To pile on the facts…

   Due to the leap year, the solstice this year was actually on Friday. Officially at 7:59 pm EDT. Before the sun had set. ;)

   But as photos go, it’s still nice. The wispy clouds look like a lovely watercolor.
9. hugh57 says:
   June 22, 2008 at 1:32 pm

   I was going to mention something along the lines of #8 rallycap, but it seemed a shame to be nerdgassing over such a nice picture.
10. George E. Martin says:
    June 23, 2008 at 12:13 am

    David at #5 said:

    “I was going to make the same point, Linda. I happen to know (and have just confirmed by Googling) that the latest sunset is later than the solstice — this year, on June 27.”

    The fact that latest sunset occurs after the summer solstice and earliest sunrise occurs before the solstice is due to what is called the “equation of time”. It is the difference between mean solar time, what our clocks keep, and apparent solar time, what a sundial keeps. Most sundials have a figure 8 like curve called an analemma which is a plot of the equation of time.

    Here is a link to a series of super imposed photographic images taken of the sun throughout a year making an analemma.

    http://www.uwm.edu/~kahl/Images/Weather/Other/analemma.html

    But it is incorrect, or at least incomplete, to say that the latest sunset is on a specific date. The date of occurrence of latest sunset is latitude dependent.

    George

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