Later Sunsets Begin Today
[image]
NASA SOHO movie shows new sunspot 1035 growing on the sun.
You may want to watch the sunset around 4:32pm tonight.
Today is the date when sunsets begin to get later in the northern hemisphere. In a quirk of earth's orbit, sunsets actually start occurring later each day about a week before the winter solstice. This year the winter solstice occurs on December 21st at 11:47am CST.
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
We will gain about 11 minutes of daylight around sunset by New Year's Day. Total daylight starts increasing after the solstice on the 21st, but the sunrise still creeps later until about January 7th. You'll notice the longer daylight in the evenings start to add up over the next 10 days.
December 14
Sunrise: 7:43am
Sunset: 4:31pm
Moonrise: 6:14am
Moonset: 2:55pm
December 15
Sunrise: 7:44am
Sunset: 4:32pm
Moonrise: 7:15am
Moonset: 3:42pm
The reason that the latest sunrise and earliest sunset times do not exactly correspond to the solstice has to do with the fact that the earth's orbital path is an ellipse instead of a perfect circle. As the sun rounds the end of the ellipse each year, sunrises and sunsets occur a little later each day near the solstice.
Sunspot 1035 Increasing:
Newly generated Sunspot 1035 grew rapidly this week. According to Spaceweather.com it is now about six times the size of earth. The sunspot is on the sun's northern hemisphere, and is facing earth today. It's part of the new solar Cycle 24, and is another small sign that solar activity is increasing. Solar astronomers are excepting a significant increase in sunspots in 2010.
PH