What's the shortest NIGHT of the year?

Feck, the nights get longer from here...


...by only, what, 4 minutes each night?

A sidereal day is approximately 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4.091 seconds (23.93447 hours or 0.99726957 SI days) from wikipedia, so it is less than 4 minutes.

I'm leaning twoards the 20th being the shortest.
That aside. I still chose the night of the 21st as it
was actually 'solstice' day . eg the 21st.
Purists can snob me, I don't care.

John.
The one thing about grey days in Oz is that you are
guarnteed sunny days soon!

Hi,

To answer the original question:

As the time of summer solstice occured before local noon in any part of Ireland, the shortest night of the year is 20th/21st June,

John

I just did a bit of arithmetic and calculate that anyone further 8 degrees of longitude west of Greenwich will have longest night of 21/22nd - I think you got the correct night Frank.

(I think Shannon is 8 degrees 52 minutes W)

Workings (and I'm open to any correction):

360 degrees rotated in 1,440 minutes (24 x 60)
How far west for it to be local solar noon when it is 11:28UT
The number of degrees the Earth must rotate for 32 minutes worth of rotation.

W/360 = 32/1,440 => W = 360 x 32 /1,1440 = 8 degrees of longitude.

Anyone west of that experiencess longest night on the following night to that of Greenwich.

Mark