On a related note, we do have an equinox article that speaks to the fact that the equinox鈥攚hich literally means 鈥渆qual night鈥濃攊s not actually 12 hours night and 12 hours day. On the date of each equinox, there are more than 12 hours of daylight. The reasons are a little complicated. Equal day/night would require us to measure sunrise/sunset at the exact moment that the exact center of the Sun appears above/disappears below the horizon, however, we actually define sunrise and sunset as the moment that the Sun’s disk become visible above/below the horizon. In addition, the Earth’s atmosphere refracts sunlight which also causes the Sun to become visible a few minutes before the edge technically reaches the horizon. Basically, these factors cause some differences in timing so that our manmade clocks won’t measure perfectly equal day/night hours on the equinoxes. Hope you find this helpful鈥攁nd interesting!
On a related note, we do have an equinox article that speaks to the fact that the equinox鈥攚hich literally means 鈥渆qual night鈥濃攊s not actually 12 hours night and 12 hours day. On the date of each equinox, there are more than 12 hours of daylight. The reasons are a little complicated. Equal day/night would require us to measure sunrise/sunset at the exact moment that the exact center of the Sun appears above/disappears below the horizon, however, we actually define sunrise and sunset as the moment that the Sun’s disk become visible above/below the horizon. In addition, the Earth’s atmosphere refracts sunlight which also causes the Sun to become visible a few minutes before the edge technically reaches the horizon. Basically, these factors cause some differences in timing so that our manmade clocks won’t measure perfectly equal day/night hours on the equinoxes. Hope you find this helpful鈥攁nd interesting!