[According to this site](https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/usa/atlanta) between 1/1/24 – 1/31/24 sunset goes from 5:39-6:07, but sunrise goes from 7:42-7:35. Why does sunset change by 28 minutes, but sunrise only changes by 7?
In: Planetary Science
An average solar day is 24 hours. Any specific day can be a bit less than 30 seconds longer or shorter. That means the middle of a solar day, solar noon, changes and is not always at the same time. This is in large part because Earth orbit around the sun is elliptical, not circular.
Sunset and sunrises are symmetrical around solar noon, not the close we used that is based on average solar noon
On 1/1/24 solar noon is at 12:40 sunrise is at 7:42 and sunset is at 17:39. That is a sunrise 4:58 before solar noon and a sunset at 4:59 after solar noon. The difference is because the times do not include second and that the length of days increases a bit during that period
On 31/1/24 solar noon is at 12:50 sunrise is at 7:35 and sunset is at 18:07. That is a sunrise at 5:15 before solar noon and sunset at 5:17. That is within the margin of error of the numbers.
So both sunrise and sunset change the same around solar noon, solar noon change 10 minutes too.
This shows how solar noon changes relative to average solar noon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analemma#/media/File:Analemma_Earth.png A 4 degrees diffrence is close to 16 minutes.
If you look at February you will notice it starts and ends with close to the same offer. Solar noon in the linked location is at 12:51 and Feb 1 and at 12:49 on Feb 29
Latest Answers