Today is Solstice, the shortest day in the Northern Hemisphere – according to the solar ephemeris for our location, the length of our day will be approximately nine hours and fifty-four minutes.
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The table at the left shows the various events associated with the motion of the Earth at our longitude and latitude. Twilight is the time when first light from the sun begins to illuminate the atmospheric particles or when last light ceases illumination. Sunrise and sunset are the times when the limb (edge) of the sun peeks above or disappears below the horizon. Transit is when the sun midpoint crosses the meridian, or longitude of our location.
Ephemeris Table courtesy vernabob.com. |
The graphic below is taken from a very interesting website, Archaeoastronomy.com. On their website, you can learn about Equinoxes, Solstices and Cross Quarters which are moments shared planet-wide, defined by the earth’s tilt and the sun’s position on The Ecliptic along 45° arcs.
This neat graphic is put into motion on Archaeoastronomy.com.