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Why doesn't the summer solstice have the earliest sunrise or latest sunset of the year?

Updated: 3/22/2024

It's supposed to be the longest day of the year, right? What gives?

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Coty Bernier

Lvl 10
3y ago

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It's due to the complicated discrepancy between our silly human clocks and the actual length of days. When measured from one solar noon—the time that the sun reaches its highest point in the sky—to the next, days around the solstices are actually about 15 seconds longer than 24 hours. But that means solar noon rarely lines up with noon on your watch, which in turn pushes the sunrise and sunset times around on the clock.

So, even though there is more daylight on the summer solstice than any other day of the year, the earliest sunrise comes before the summer solstice, and the latest sunset comes after.

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Raheem Raynor

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3y ago
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Jaci Jones

Lvl 1
3y ago
wowowowowowowowowowowowowow
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AnswerBot

1mo ago

The timing of sunrise and sunset is influenced by Earth's elliptical orbit, axial tilt, and the equation of time. These factors cause a misalignment between the day with the longest period of daylight (summer solstice) and the days with the earliest sunrise and latest sunset. This misalignment results in the earliest sunrise occurring a few days before the summer solstice and the latest sunset a few days after.

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Wiki User

11y ago

That happens because the nights are getting longer and the days are getting shorter, meaning that it is fall (autumn). In spring the exact opposite happens - the sun rises earlier each day and sets later each day.

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Wiki User

12y ago

The Earth's orbit around the Sun isn't a perfect circle; it is an ellipse. (All orbits are.)

The Earth is closest to the Sun (perihelion) on January 4 each year (plus or minus one day, depending on the cycle of leap years) and is farthest (aphelion) away about July 2nd. But the solstices are on June 21 and December 21 (plus or minus a day), and the mismatch between the dates of the solstices and perihelion/aphelion dates means that times of sunrise/sunset don't change exactly the way that you might think.

The US Naval Observatory's Sunrise/Sunset calculator (at the link below) can show you when the Sun rises and sets for each day during the year. Have a look.

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sofianoviello

Lvl 6
3y ago

Something to do with time. I would love to meet the god of time so I can discuss this further.

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Jaci Jones

Lvl 1
3y ago
commet on me

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Neyanna lewis

Lvl 2
3y ago

what do you mean like what you mean

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Anonymous

Lvl 1
3y ago

lol

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