Does the phrase "It's always darkest before the dawn" have any scientific relevance?

Question

Is there a specific time of night that is darker than another?

Answer 1

No. Except in the hour or so after sunset and before sunrise when the light levels are a bit higher due to atmospheric scattering of the Suns light in the upper atmosphere.

"It's always darkest before the dawn" only has 'scientific' meaning to the Psychologists ☺

Doug

Answer 2

There might be a specific time of a particular night that is darkest, but it would vary from night to night, even if you don't consider any light pollution.

There are many sources of light in the night sky, including the Moon, the Milky Way, the Zodiacal Light, and the Gegenschein. The Gegenschein is always brightest at midnight (but not very bright even then); the Zodiacal Light is brightest just after evening twilight or before morning twilight; the Milky Way's prominence depends on time of year; and the Moon's brightest time depends on the time of month.

So there's no reason in astronomy to say that, in general, it's darkest just before the dawn.

Answer 3

Normally the darkest time of night is right in the middle of the night, close to midnight. But nowadays the first half of the night is less dark than the second half, because light pollution is at its worst in the evening when people are awake, but less after midnight when many people and bisinesses turn of their lights. So there might be just a glimmer of truth in that statement.