DAYLIGHT HOURS HAVE LENGTHENED

[WINDINWATERS]

It also depends on how close you are to the equator.
Twilight is much shorter there than closer to the poles, because the relative speed of the earth's rotation is greater at the equator. A person on the equator moves around 25,000 miles per day. A person on the poles only moves a few miles.
Tom

So if you are closer to the equator your official first light time will be earlier than it is supposed to be is that right

 

[Quagmire]

The days seem longer. . . .hmmmm.

Did you happen to get married recently?

 

[columbus]

So if you are closer to the equator your official first light time will be earlier than it is supposed to be is that right

Not exactly.
The closer you are to the equator the more precision to sunrise and sunset times. Far away, the light might stay for hours longer than closer.
Also, atmospheric conditions matter. Overcast skys, further from the equator, or at different times of year, will matter more than closer due to the angle of the sun.
There are a bunch of different variables.
Tom

 

[GoodbyeDave]

The Wikipedia article on twilight explains the different types of twilight. Whether you count it as day, twilight, or night will obviously depend on what you look at: bushes, the horizon, or stars. If you're indoors, then it will obviously depend on the orientation of the window. In the evening, it looks twilight in my kitchen while it's still day in the living room.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Well the sun isn't on a timer like the cartoons. "0)

Anyone can perceive an increase or decrease in the amount of time it takes to get light and dark. A person can come up with all kinds of variation for sunup and sundown.

 

[WINDINWATERS]

Well the sun isn't on a timer like the cartoons. "0)

Anyone can perceive an increase or decrease in the amount of time it takes to get light and dark. A person can come up with all kinds of variation for sunup and sundown.

This mornings first light occurred at 4.03 am instead of 4.50 am however it was very different due to complete cloud cover.
At 3.48 am a beam of light shone from the horizon into the sky and lasted for about 10 seconds it came from the north eastern horizon. At 4.00 am a small area of white light began to form to the east where the sun arises and just lingered there.
At 4.20 am the main areas of light where to the southern and northern horizons with the southern horizon dominating until the sun light from the east took over.
The whole event was bizarre to say the least.
I can only surmise that nobody has even bothered to arise to confirm that first light is occurring much earlier than it is supposed to.
I know myself although I am enjoying the specter of it all I m not sure how much longer I can keep getting up this early myself.
All the best, WINDY

 

[columbus]

I can only surmise that nobody has even bothered to arise to confirm that first light is occurring much earlier than it is supposed to.

Personally, I don't consider dawn early in the morning.

I consider it very late at night.
Tom

 

[David T]

Paradolia is that the proper term?

 

[Guy Threepwood]

Has anyone noticed that the day light hours have lengthened.
At sunset the last light just keeps lingering and even after the stars have come out light can still be seen, last night where I live the last light extended an extra 20 minutes and even after that the sky had a white streak of light high in the sky for a further period.
This morning again where I live the first light occurred 31 minutes earlier than the weather bureau had predicted for the time of first light.
This has extended the period of day light for the day by more than 51 minutes, that was yesterday and this phenomenon is developing. I would not be surprised next week to arise with a dawn of 3 am and sunset after 8 pm. I m not saying this will occur but it is heading that way it appears.
What do you think have you taken any notice of the correct first light/last light and compared it to what is occurring in your region at the moment and what do you imagine could cause such an EVENT.

There is a lot more light pollution from 'energy saving' bulbs being used in public/street/ lighting etc- since you mentioned it was more of a white than natural warm light - maybe some city dept trying to get some green-subsidy work before it gets the axe? . They are also causing problems with traffic signals, the regular bulbs used to keep them defrosted in winter, but the expensive 'energy saver' ones don't.

Funny though- I live in a very remote area, very few artificial lights at all, and I was thinking the same thing over the last couple of weeks, the light lingering longer than I expected it to- it's normally the opposite this time of year, and we're surprised at how early it gets dark..

I was thinking maybe the albedo effect- with el Nino this year, winter/snow has held off for a while, and so arrived quite suddenly over the last week or so in much of N America anyway, all that light being reflected back into the sky?

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

Since this thread started, I have made a special point of checking the published twilight and rise/set times online and in comparison to some older printed resources...they are, for my location, accurate.

I have also noted the actual times of rise/set, and the times of times of the civil, nautical and astronomical twilights (yes, there are three, and they are different)...and they seem to be right on schedule here in Central Illinois, US of A.

Now then, there are a number of natural phenomena that can affect darkness (noctilucent clouds, stratospheric dust caused by major volcanic eruptions, etc.)...But I've not seen any such effect here in the last few days, nor have I heard about any on any other media.

If you think it's real, start keeping records and otherwise documenting it...

 

[Iti oj]

Its getting darker here where I live

 

[fantome profane]

This mornings first light occurred at 4.03 am instead of 4.50 am however it was very different due to complete cloud cover.
At 3.48 am a beam of light shone from the horizon into the sky and lasted for about 10 seconds it came from the north eastern horizon. At 4.00 am a small area of white light began to form to the east where the sun arises and just lingered there.
At 4.20 am the main areas of light where to the southern and northern horizons with the southern horizon dominating until the sun light from the east took over.
The whole event was bizarre to say the least.
I can only surmise that nobody has even bothered to arise to confirm that first light is occurring much earlier than it is supposed to.
I know myself although I am enjoying the specter of it all I m not sure how much longer I can keep getting up this early myself.
All the best, WINDY

Have you considered contacting a local astronomer? Is there a University near you, or an observatory? There are who can explain to you exactly what you are seeing, and I know most astronomers love to talk about this stuff. Look them up online, send them an email, contact them on twitter, whatever.