Winter solstice the shortest day of the year?

[Muse]

That was what I thought, but what I'm seeing in the newspaper indicates otherwise. I saw something similar to this last week. In today's Oakland Tribune it indicates:

Sunrise: Today 7:23 a.m. Tomorrow 7:24 a.m.
Sunset: Today 4:58 p.m. Tomorrow 4:58 p.m.

This would suggest that the days are still getting shorter. The solstice was on or approximately December 21 as always.

 

[Cogman]

In some places it is the longest day of the year....

 

[FoBoT]

maybe something here 'splains it, it made my head hurt so i stopped reading it
http://www.idialstars.com/eass.htm
http://www.idialstars.com/eot.htm

 

[dainthomas]

Sunrise can still be getting later, but sunset is getting later faster. They don't show seconds.

7:23:59 -> 7:24:01
4:58:01 -> 4:58:59

The second day is longer.

 

[ElFenix]

according to wunderground for my zip

Tomorrow will be 0m 22s longer.

 

[jEnus]

Tomorrow will be 0m 39s longer

 

[JTsyo]

takes a bit for this to make sense. The ticks for the days are a bit coarse to make out the day though.

One thing to keep in mind is with leap years and such, the day could be off by up to 3/4 of a day (18hrs), though since we had a leap year last year, we should be closer to 6 hours off.

 

[Rubycon]

All days are the same length - 86,400 seconds. :hmm:

 

[sivart]

All days are the same length - 86,400 seconds. :hmm:

Yeah, if the days are getting longer why does it seem like they go faster as you get older?

 

[FoBoT]

All days are the same length - 86,400 seconds. :hmm:

well, depends on how accurate you are talking
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features.cfm?feature=15

"The length of the day changes about a millisecond over the course of a year," says Gross. "It gradually increases in the winter, when Earth rotates more slowly, and decreases in the summer. There are also longer patterns of changes in the length of day that last decades, even centuries."

Since there are 86,400 seconds in a 24-hour day, a few thousandths of a second might not seem to make much difference, but they do. Knowing exactly when and how much Earth's rotation varies may lead to better models of the atmosphere and oceans, improved weather prediction and a greater understanding of the planet's inner workings.

 

[Rubycon]

well, depends on how accurate you are talking
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features.cfm?feature=15

I didn't want to get too technical about this. Your link reminds me of a former NASA contractor friend and the discussions we had regarding electron states of Cs-133 isotopes in regards to keeping time. He said it was not accurate enough.

 

[WHAMPOM]

That was what I thought, but what I'm seeing in the newspaper indicates otherwise. I saw something similar to this last week. In today's Oakland Tribune it indicates:

Sunrise: Today 7:23 a.m. Tomorrow 7:24 a.m.
Sunset: Today 4:58 p.m. Tomorrow 4:58 p.m.

This would suggest that the days are still getting shorter. The solstice was on or approximately December 21 as always.

Gotta count those seconds. Decamber 21 at 12:47 EST 2009 and it changes times for the leap year adjustment.

 

[FoBoT]

I didn't want to get too technical about this. Your link reminds me of a former NASA contractor friend and the discussions we had regarding electron states of Cs-133 isotopes in regards to keeping time. He said it was not accurate enough.

mercury atoms? five times more precise than Cs-133
http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/mercury_atomic_clock.htm

An experimental atomic clock based on a single mercury atom is now at least five times more precise than the national standard clock based on a “fountain” of cesium atoms, according to a paper by physicists at the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the July 14 issue of Physical Review Letters.


The current version of NIST-F1—if it were operated continuously—would neither gain nor lose a second in about 70 million years. The latest version of the mercury clock would neither gain nor lose a second in about 400 million years.

 

[Rubycon]

They were using hydrogen maser clocks.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Solstice can fall between days (technically), that's what causes this.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

They were using hydrogen maser cocks.

That's what she said.

 

[Muse]

That's what she said.

Ah, see, you proved Ruby right. In another thread (concerning the longevity of CFL's, IIRC) she noted that people had their minds in the gutter here. Well, the guys I guess.

Anyway, (I'm OP) looks like I was snookered by their not including the seconds. Both times I looked the days were getting longer but rounding made it appear they were getting shorter. And yes Ruby by "days" I meant the part of the day when the sun was above the horizon, and the horizon would be the plane bisecting our planet and also passing through the center of the sun as it sets and rises. Well, that would certainly approximate it. Um, and yes I am talking about the northern hemisphere.

 

[brandonbull]

They were using hydrogen maser cocks.

Shouldn't talk with your mouth full.