Why does it go dark quicker near the equator?

Question

The nearer the equator you are the quicker night falls and day breaks - why is this? My guess is that it's something to do with the curvature of the earth.

Answer 1

It has to do with the latitude and the time of year. The easiest way to visualize it is on the summer solstice -- June 21, the longest day of the year. Earth's axis is tilted 23 1/2 degrees toward the sun. At high noon that day, the sun is directly above the Tropic of Cancer (23 1/2 degrees north latitude), and on that day, anyone along the Tropic will get 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness.

But anyone on or above the Arctic Circle (90 - 23 1/2 = 66 1/2 degrees north latitude) will get 24 hours of sunlight ... the sun never goes down.

So anyone in the North Temperate Zone between 23 1/2 and 66 1/2 degrees north (which includes the entire United States except northern Alaska) will get less than 12 hours of daylight, but more than zero hours. (That is, the sun go down, but the days will be long.)

Actually, on that day, daylight on the equator (which will be 23 1/2 degrees below the Tropic of Cancer) will be the same as daylight at 47 degrees north, six months later -- like somewhere in northern Minnesota on the first day of winter, December 21.

One last thing on this topic ... on the two equinox days (March 21, the first day of spring, and September 21, the first day of autumn), the whole world gets 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness. On those days, it's the same in Canada, on the Equator, and in Australia.

Oh -- I just re-read your question. Yes, it does change from day to night, and vice versa, faster near the equator (actually in the Torrid Zone between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn). The reason is at those latitudes, the sunlight passes through less of earth's atmosphere than at high latitudes. The angle of the sun's descent toward the horizon is closer to the perpendicular, and for those two reasons, (a) the sun's light is refracted less at lower latitude, and (b) the sun "plunges" below the horizon at a steeper angle, therefore it gets dark quicker.

Answer 2

It's simpler to understand if you think of the Sun orbiting the Earth instead of wise versa (I know that astronomers don't like that picture but everything is relative).

If you're at equator, the pace of the sun is strictly up/down/up/down. The sun's visual diameter is about 1/4 degree and it travels 360 degrees in 24 hours, so it takes 24*(1/4)/(360) hours to set, that is one and a half minute.

If you're near the poles, the Sun sets in a skew angle relative to the horizon. So a big part of it's movement is about going along the horizon, not about setting. Therefore, it sets slower.

You should try this experiment: point directly at a big beach ball with a pocket lamp in a dark room. Now rotate the beach ball. You will see how it becomes dark and light at different times at different places on the ball, like the maps shown on seat television on long-distance flights at night. Very instructive!

Answer 3

When the sun sets in th north, it "disappears" over the horizon in a sharp angle. So it takes a while for the "whole disc" to disappear.. In extreme cases (summer in the arctic) it never completely disappears.
At the equator, this angle is (not exactly but almost) 90 degrees. So the sun goes over the horizon straight down rather than in an angle.

Answer 4

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Answer 5

hi

Answer 6

bcoz d sun sets quickly

Answer 7

I don't know. But your guess sounds good to me.