On Wednesday 21 December 2005 14:55, Doug McGarrett wrote:
You're right, it is the solstice, but interestingly enough, the sun has been setting slightly _later_ each day for at least a couple of weeks. No, I don't understand it, but you can check your daily papers if you still have them, and verify that.
I've just started researching a related "problem" of physics and celestial mechanics: The clock is stable, but as the daylight shrinks, the day shrinks more at one end than the other (according to reported sunrise and sunset times on the environment Canada website). I don't quite get how that could be possible. Intuitively, the shrinkage of the day, approaching a solstice, should be symmetrical. Your little observation is just a further monkey-wrench in the works. I think that somebody is messing with our minds. Hmm. A winter solstice is the day that the sun follows its lowest (most southerly for us) path across the sky. In Australia, it's currently the summer solstice, and for them the sun travelled its highest (most southerly) path. Therefore, for us it was visible for the least amount of daylight, and for them it was visible the most today. Perhaps the local discrepancy is because we have hills or mountains in just the wrong places between us and sections of our horizon. Maybe the prairie people get proper, orderly, symmetrical daylight shrinkage and growage ( :-) . If that's the problem, it would shift around, depending on where the physical measurements were taken. Things that make you go "hmmm". There are couple of astronomy apps in the SuSE 10 offering. Maybe I'll see if they're any help (desperate stab to get this on-topic... didn't work, did it?). Kevin (on 'vacation' and supposed to be painting that living room)