sun setting earlier?

When I leave work in the evenings at 5 here in Alabama it is almost pitch black. Seems to me that last year when I left work at this time of year I had to battle with the sun shinning in my eyes.

Originally posted by parrhesia
I haven't noticed anything different. It's always very dim when I'm walking home at 5:20, and the sun has always set at the same time in the winter as long as I can remember.

yes same here, i haven't noticed the sun setting any earlier than usual, i remember when i was a kid the sun often didnt set in the Summer time until around 10 or 11pm though.

Maybe it's because it's the start of the winter season in the Northern Hemisphere? Just a guess...

The rotation of the earth actually does change slowly over time. Because of something called precession. Basically when the earth rotates is has a bit of a wobble to it, similar to what you might see when you spin a top. However, one complete cycle takes 26,000 years. Much too long for you to have noticed a change in you short life.

This has an effect on the lenght of days, and on the equinoxes.

Here are some links or you can google it:

www.crystalinks.com...

www.cartage.org.lb...'s/PrecessionoftheEarth's.htm

Originally posted by soothsayer
Maybe it's because it's the start of the winter season in the Northern Hemisphere? Just a guess...

That's why I hate setting the clocks back. There's so little daylight.

oh come on don't you realize it's not your imagination, the government has figuired out how to control the sun, they have it on a remore control in the oval office and Bush has excellent fun playing with it sense the Lewinsky option was outruled

i've been thinking. what if the earths rotation is really slowing down, but faster for some reason. i know that there is mentioned in some ancient myths about a day when the sun stood still and setting in the wrong place. and according to nordic myths there is a story about a night that never would end. mayby this will happen again?

Originally posted by outsidethemilkglass
oh come on don't you realize it's not your imagination, the government has figuired out how to control the sun, they have it on a remore control in the oval office and Bush has excellent fun playing with it sense the Lewinsky option was outruled

hehe,


no realy, it seams like this to me too, but i was just thinking it was becouse of the houre change

hehe, that is the most obvious explanation.

Originally posted by darkspace
i've been thinking. what if the earths rotation is really slowing down, but faster for some reason.

Then the sunrise and sunset dates in the Farmers Almanac would be wrong, and you'd notice it because days were *longer* (not shorter) and within a matter of weeks, the creep in sunrise/sunset would be noticeably different than what's printed in the newspapers.

Furthermore, we'd be hearing about it from every astronomer on the planet. Giant telescopes (and small ones) depend on programs that calculate the earth's rotation as a constant. If it did something weird, then astronomers couldn't reliably find stars without a lot of manual corrections to their equipment. Amateur astronomers would be screaming bloody murder about this one.

i know that there is mentioned in some ancient myths about a day when the sun stood still and setting in the wrong place. and according to nordic myths there is a story about a night that never would end. mayby this will happen again?

No. The sun never "stood still" (earth stopped rotating.) We'd know about it. It would have ripped the crust off the face of the planet, for one thing.

Originally posted by darklanser

Times for South Florida yesterday
Nov. 18, 2003
Sunrise : 6:42 am
Sunset : 5:29 pm

Just checked your sunset time mutehalo,

Nov. 18, 2003
Sunrise : 6:38 am
Sunset : 4:20 pm


Was it any earlier than this?


[Edited on 11-19-2003 by darklanser]

4:20 seems about right i thinks. still seems a bit earlier than usual though. could have sworn a 4:20 sunset would be in mid december or something.

might be b.s., but worth a look


DECELERATION CONTINUES
Clifford E Carnicom
Nov 08 2003
Edited Nov 14 2003

A detailed statistical analysis of time over a period of four months continues to support the hypothesis of an earth in a state of deceleration. The magnitude of the deceleration, if confirmed, is sufficient to anticipate unusual geophysical activity in the foreseeable future.

The magnitude of the deceleration is currently best estimated at approximately 0.3 milliseconds per day. Any deceleration component of rotation of the earth is to be regarded with the greatest of interest, as an apparent small acceleration (deceleration) will result in significant velocity differentials and accumulated time differentials over a relatively short period of time if sustained. A deceleration component of 0.3 milliseconds per day will result in a velocity change of approximately 0.1 seconds per day at the end of a one year period. This same deceleration component would lead to an accumulated difference of approximately 20 seconds of time after a one year period. These are phenomenal magnitudes relative to any historical basis that is available.

Small changes in time will translate to large changes in the kinetic energy of the earth. One second of time change per year corresponds roughly to the energy contained within all of the fossil fuels of the earth. Data under collection and analysis indicates that a significant multiple of the historical level of approximately one second per year may now be occurring. This indicates the prospect of significant energy and subsequent geophysical changes occurring in future times.

Further data that is accumulated with additional timepieces over a greater interval of time will continue to clarify the findings that are under examination. The independent time system now consists of 14 quartz clocks with measurements on a regular basis. The deceleration bias that is under detection remains thus far regardless of the subset of timepieces examined or of the interval over which a constant rate of rotation is assumed.

Readers may also wish to be aware of the anomalous time measurements over this same period as recorded in the earlier articles, Time, Time To Start Watching Time ,Time, Energy and Earth Changes, The Waistline of Rotation, and Time and Rotation Changes Sustained.

Additional notes related to the computation of time differences are presented below.


The following table presents an example spreadsheet statistical analysis of an independent timekeeping system using 8-14 quartz clocks over a four month period. The column descriptions and weighting functions will be described in more detail below.



[Edited on 27-11-2003 by dexxy]

i was thinking about this a few days ago. it is quite peculiar... especially since it's more than just a few of us noticing this. but, of course, it could be because the sun is dying and it is getting darker...

Originally posted by effigyrelease
. . . it could be because the sun is dying and it is getting darker...

[Giggle]


Why does this topic come up every six months on the various boards? (10 points for the first correct answer)

Wait, I thought that the sun was supposed to be setting to far to the south or was it to the north?

Maybe it is because of planet X, no wait, it is because chemtrails are being used to speed up the rotation, which is offset by HAARP, which causes whales to line up facing west and let loose huge farts whaich are pushing th eEarths rotation faster along the cosmic orgone grid.

yep, that's it.







[Edited on 27-11-2003 by HowardRoark]

hmm I live in europe right now and the sun here sets around 4ish thats wierd for me too ten at 5pm it looks like 11:00

Yes, I noticed it gets darker earlier too. I got off work around 5:30pm and rode my bike home. I go through a little path through a park and let me tell you it was pitch black, I could not see anything at all. Until I reached the opening I saw light, but I was spooked. I don't remember it ever being that dark in my life.

no, i must agree, the sun does seem to be setting eariler than usual i've been noticing it's still dark and nearly 7:45 AM, probably normal.. but then i noticed it's almost completely dark by about 4:30. that's dei=finitely not normal :S

I hope this helps:




The "variation of day length" is sometimes known as "the equation of time."

It's not a simple concept, but, if you want to try to understand it, it helps to think not only in terms of sunrise or sunset -- but also about the middle of the day.

For these purposes, we're definining mid-day as the time that falls precisely between sunrise and sunset. The time of mid-day gets steadily later during November, December and January. It shifts almost uniformly by about 30 mins over 2.5 months!

This is the effect of Earth's elliptical orbit, as described in today's radio script. In other words, remember that as Earth spins on its axis to create day and night, it's also orbiting the sun. In one day -- one spin of the Earth -- our motion in orbit causes the sun to shift a little, about a degree, eastward on our sky's dome. So Earth has to spin a little extra toward the east each day to bring that sun up over your eastern horizon -- for day to begin anew. This effect causes both sunrise and sunset to come later than they would if Earth were not moving in orbit. The effect is most pronounced around the December solstice, because Earth is always closest to the sun in early January, and thus at this time of year we are moving at our fastest in orbit.


And the sunrises are indeed coming later around now, but the sunsets are not. This is because -- also at this time of year -- the days in the northern hemisphere are getting shorter. In other words, the sun is above the horizon for fewer minutes each day. This is an entirely different phenomenon, which happens because of Earth's tilt on its axis. The length of the day of course gets shorter approaching the December solstice and longer after that date.


www.earthsky.com...

I guess you guys dont realize that the change in seasons could have a factor in the sunset?
i guess its more fun to think that its aliens with GIGANTIC POWERFUL MAGNETS that are using them to rotate our planet so that it will get darker earlier so they have more time to abduct us and do anal probes on us!!! AHHHHH be afraid, theyre gonna destroy us!!!

Well we may have all adjusted to the sun setting earlier by now but I just found a document on "global dimming" that outlines how over 30 years 10% less light is reaching the earth.

Goodbye sunshine

Each year less light reaches the surface of the Earth. No one is sure what's causing 'global dimming' - or what it means for the future. In fact most scientists have never heard of it. By David Adam

forgot the link

www.guardian.co.uk...

[Edited on 19-12-2003 by BlackJackal]