The Math Behind Daylight's Lengthening Days
2025-03-19
A colleague's office window in Stavanger, Norway, transitioning from pitch black to bright sunlight sparked the author's curiosity about the rate of daylight's lengthening. The article uses interactive graphs to visualize how daylight changes over time at different latitudes. It delves into the underlying mathematics, including the sunrise equation, solar declination, and atmospheric refraction. The author derives formulas for daylight length and its derivative, discussing the complexities of more accurate calculations, such as considering the solar limb and atmospheric refraction. Ultimately, the article reveals the intricacies of daylight change and the extent to which various factors influence daylight calculations.
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