why does the sun go down earlier in the winter and much later in the summer?

Question

why does the sun go down earlier in the winter and much later in the summer?

In: Physics

Answer 1

The Earth tilts. The part of the Earth tilting away from the sun receives less light than the part of the Earth tilting toward the sun. This results in a pattern of light on the Earth like below:

[https://i.stack.imgur.com/pYf7o.png](https://i.stack.imgur.com/pYf7o.png)

The right/Eastern edge represents where it is Sunrise is happening and the left/Western edge represents where Sunset is happening. As you can see, as you go further north (in this example) the distance between Sunset and Sunrise increases, representing a longer time between the two, till you get above the artic circle where it is always daylight.

By contrast, as you go further south, the distance gets closer and closer till you get to the antarctic circle where it is always night.

In this specific example, it is Summer in the northern hemisphere and Winter in the Southern hemisphere.