Slow Reveal
Notice, Wonder, Connect
Student Suggestions for Catchy Headlines: “The Lights of Nome,” “Dwindling Nightlight?,” and “Nome Your Time (Know Your Time).”
TimeandDate.com makes sun graphs of any location in the world. These graphs show the length and time of daylight, twilight and night over the course of 2022. We focus on Nome, Alaska, as a location to the north of the state and to the west within the Alaska Time Zone. How does light change over the year? How do we humans adjust our clocks to shape our connections with the natural world and with each other?
This sun graph depicts daylight, twilight, and night throughout 2022 for Nome, Alaska, using a 24 hour clock to show local times, not am and pm. The graph shows how skewed Nome’s clock time is from its solar time. Solar noon in Nome – when the sun is highest in the sky – happens at 14:00 (2:00 pm) in the winter and at 15:00 (3:00 pm) in the summer. Similarly, the darkest part of the night is at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, not at midnight.
The graph differentiates among the different types of twilight (specific definitions are in the slide deck). From mid-May through mid-August, the darkest that it gets in Nome is “Civic Twilight” when there is “still enough natural sunlight … that artificial light may not be required to carry out outdoor activities.” The graph also shows how switching over to Daylight Savings Time (in March) and back to Standard time (in November) shifts clock time an hour later and then earlier.
We chose Nome as the main graph because it’s close to the western limit of the Alaska Time Zone (-9 UTC) and so its solar time is particularly skewed. This additional slide shows how sun graphs differ within the Alaska Time Zone at 5 different locations in Alaska, and, for further comparison, Disneyland in California is included.
In looking at these sun graphs simultaneously, we can see that in Unalaska – which is about as far west as Nome – the solar time is equally skewed, but, because it’s further south, they experience astronomical twilight there in the summer months, when it’s dark enough for most celestial objects to be viewed. By contrast, Hyder, to the far east of ADT, experiences solar noon a little early (11:30 am) in the winter and a little late (12:30 pm). (Of course, variation within the hour before and after solar noon is to be expected.) Utqiagvik is in the most northern part of Alaska and its sun graph reflects that – no twilight at all in the summer months and no daylight at all in the winter months. However, Utqiagvik is not as far west as Nome, and its solar noon is less “off” (about 1:00 pm in the winter and 2:00 pm in the summer). The sun graphs of Juneau and Fairbanks reflect their respective locations. Disneyland, far to the south and closer to the equator, experiences much less variation in the amount of daylight each day and much shorter periods of twilight (note: it’s also in a different time zone).
Time zones were initially figured out mathematically (by dividing the earth into 24 zones, one for each hour of the day, beginning in Greenwich, England, and then radiating out along longitudinal lines). They were then significantly adjusted to accommodate political boundaries and geographic landmarks. Since then, individual political entities (e.g., countries, states, and/or provinces) have been deciding for themselves how and where they want to adopt those time zones and during which part(s) of the year, for their particular boundaries. (Fig.2) Each time zone is described by how it relates (+ or -) to UTC (Universal Time Coordinated). Greenwich, England is 0 UTC.
The contiguous US spans 4 time zones – Eastern (-5 UTC), Central (-6 UTC), Mountain (-7 UTC), and Pacific (-8 UTC). Alaska, given that it is as wide as the contiguous US, also spans the equivalent of 4 time zones. Until as recently as 1983, all 4 time zones were used within Alaska as shown (more or less) in the diagram below Now, all of Alaska is either in Alaska Time (-9 UTC) or Hawaii-Aleutian Time (-10 UTC). The dividing line between time zones within Alaska is just west of Unalaska.
Deciding how to adapt clock time across broad geographic distances has been a complicated and often heated discussion for more than a century at many levels. For many years, each community set its own clocks according to the sun.
“In North America, a coalition of businessmen and scientists decided on time zones, and in 1883, U.S. and Canadian railroads adopted four (Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific) to streamline service. The shift was not universally well received. Evangelical Christians were among the strongest opponents, arguing “time came from God and railroads were not to mess with it,”…” (NYTimes)
Similarly, discussions about Standard vs Daylight Savings Time – whether to switch and, if so, which to keep permanent – have raged for decades in the US and elsewhere.
“To farmers, daylight saving time is a disruptive schedule foisted on them by the federal government; a popular myth even blamed them for its existence. To some parents, it’s a nuisance that can throw bedtime into chaos. To the people who run golf courses, gas stations and many retail businesses, it’s great.” (NYTimes)
Most recently, the U.S. Senate voted, in the spring of 2022, to stay on Daylight Savings Time permanently. That bill is currently stalled in the U.S. House. Both Alaska senators voted to make Daylight Savings Time permanent.
In Alaska, the challenges have revolved around how the choice of time zones might unify Alaska, force distant communities to adhere to clock times that adversely affect their daily lives, and/or might further connect or disconnect Alaska from the US West Coast, where much business has centered. During WWII, “Southeast Alaska was put on Pacific Time during World War II to synchronize the state capital with San Francisco and Seattle.” In 1983, when Alaska switched from 4 time zones to 2, some communities chose to stay on Pacific Time to be aligned with the banks and businesses in Seattle (Ketchikan) and to be aligned with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Portland (Metlakatla). They have since switched over to Alaska Time.
Elsewhere, China, a country even wider than the state of Alaska and spanning 5 time zones, has chosen to keep the entire country on Beijing time since 1949. The Yukon Territory, in 2020, decided to stop switching from daylight to standard time. They are now permanently at -7 UTC. That means that in the summer, they are one hour ahead of Alaska (i.e., they are aligned with Pacific Daylight Time) and in the winter, they are two hours ahead of Alaska (i.e., they are aligned with Mountain Standard Time)
What do you think?
- How do daylight hours in Nome align similarly or differently from where you are? Why?
- How does Daylight Savings Time (March-November) impact you, if at all?
- Would you rather more daylight in the morning year-round (that’d be Standard Time, like now, late November) or would you prefer more daylight in the afternoon/evening year-round (that’d be Daylight Savings Time, like in summer and early fall)?
- If you were to choose either Daylight Savings Time or Standard Time to make permanent for the entire country, which would you choose and why? Who might have a different preference and why?
- If you were in charge of Time Zones for Alaska, how many would you choose? Which ones?
- Or, should we have Time Zones at all? Are there alternatives?
There’s lots of fascinating history behind the creation of and disagreements around Time Zones and Daylight Savings Time at world, national and state levels. We’ve included several very readable articles in resources; check them out.
Finally, one more note that may clear up some questions:
The Prime Meridian (0°longitude) and the Ante Meridian (180°longitude) “divide” the earth into the western and eastern hemispheres. Most of Alaska is east of the 180th meridian, but parts (e.g., Attu) are west of the 180th meridian; that means that Alaska is the state that is, technically (mathematically), both farthest west and farthest east! The International Date Line runs roughly along the 180th meridian, but because it’s a political construct, people have adjusted it to run west of (rather than through) Alaska and so all of Alaska (and the US) remain in the same date.
Additional Resources:
- Why Do We Change the Clocks Anyway? (NYTimes)
- What if we spring forward and never fall back? What permanent daylight saving time would mean for Alaska (Alaska Public Media)
- Time Zones [1983, re: Alaska]
- https://yukon.ca/en/seasonal-time-change
- Rise at 11? China’s Single Time Zone Means Keeping Odd Hours (NYTimes)
- Alaskans Double Their Daylight Savings (Geophysical Institute)
- Long, hot summer days (video from Liasco Educational Media showing earth’s tilt, etc)
Visualization Type: Area Graph
Data Source: Time and Date
Visualization Source: Time and Date
It can easily be replicated. Go to the Time and Date and select the place that you want the sun graph of.
Nathan,
Daylight Savings Time shifts the human clock time for when daylight occurs and, because the graph measures time in human clock time (and not solar time), it looks like the daylight itself is shifting.
Did you get a chance to look at the daylight graph of Fairbanks? How is it different from Nome? How is it similar?
I noticed that there is more daylight between June and July. I wonder why Daylight savings time shifts the sun graph. I don’t know how this relates to me or my community. A catchy title for this graph would be “The Sun Graph of Nome”.
Nathan,
Daylight Savings Time shifts the human clock time for when daylight occurs and, because the graph measures time in human clock time (and not solar time), it looks like the daylight itself is shifting.
Did you get a chance to look at the daylight graph of Fairbanks? How is it different from Nome? How is it similar?
features: blue, yellow, red, dark blue, light blue thats all the time i had to write so
1. I notice that there are many dijfferent colors, all different shades of blue and black. I notice that the diseyland is pretty straight, with not a lot of changes.
2. I believe that daylight savings time is a waste of clocks and too much work. I believe that we should get rid of daylight savings time because of the avancements made in tecnology.
I see 3 lines and they do not always connect to each other. I do wonder why we have multiple time zones. well, I do not like the time zones because I do not get as much sleep. Ok I have never in my life thought about living in Nome my hometown is Juneau which is in the same state but say if I ate lunch at one specific time I would get all messed up.
Sean,
Time Zones are an amazing thing. Useful in some ways and confusing and unhelpful in others. How do they make you get less sleep?
My mother lives on the East Coast – which is 4 hours earlier than us in Juneau. It’s interesting how that makes it harder to find a time even just to talk on the phone. If I leave work at 5:00, she’s already often tired and ready to go to bed because it’s 9:00 pm where she is. It’d be great if my 5:00 pm were the same as her 5:00 pm. But, do I wish that Alaska was in the same time zone as she is? Then I’d be getting up in the pitch dark and it wouldn’t be getting light until 11:30 in the morning. Lots to think about.
i see colers and i want daylightsaving because its good
Amara,
Can you say what you think is good about daylight savings time (when the beginning of the day is an hour later than in standard time)? My son likes it because he always gets up later in the morning and likes to have more daylight at the end of the day. But I really like changing from daylight savings to standard time because I like the extra light in the morning when I have to get up at 7:00 am. So he and I disagree very strongly!
Brenda
I’m noticing graphs. I’m wondering what most of the graphs are made up of and stuff. the connections are that there are graphs about Juneau .
if Juneau and Nome where in the same time zone it would be cool but things in nome would probably change a little
I noticed that in different places the time is always different.
What do other times look like?
I go back and forth between two different time/light zones.
In Nome they use a 24 hour clock and we use a 12 hour clock.
A head line is: the light time graph
Zoey,
The light is very different all over!! Except on Sept. 22, when it’s the autumnal equinox and there’s the same amount of day light and night time everywhere.
Thanks for bringing up about the 24 hr vs 12 hr clock. That 24 hr clock is from the oganization that makes the graphs: timeanddate.com. They use the 24 hr clock so that there’s no confusion about when it’s am and when it’s pm. If you look at the (small) image of daylight in Juneau you can see that that’s a 24 hr clock as well. I think most people in Nome – just like most people in Juneau – use the 12 hour clock. HOWEVER, people in the military (including the Coast Guard), use the 24 hr clock and everyone in Europe uses the 24 hr clock!
I notice that the time zone is in military time.
l notice that June and July are the highest on the graph.
I noticed that in Utqiagvik in the summer there are periods of unending sun, but in the winter the sun still rises. Why doesn’t it rise in the winter?
Mary Peltola should vote yes on the bill, as setting the clocks back is a hindrance.
I see a lot of blue tones and some wiggly lines. I am wondering why did they choose the blue tones for the colors, I do like how the colors remind me of twilit. I think this is connected to me because i live in Alaska.
Living with solar time is different because the clouds came mess up the solar time and there might not be as many clouds in Nome.
Stahly,
Do you think they chose the blue tones because they wanted other people to be reminded of twilight as well? I’ve seen another sun graph, done by a different organization, that used yellow for daylight, and then orange for twilight in the morning and purple for twilight in the afternoon. What colors would you use if you were making this graph?
It certainly can be hard to know when solar time is if you can’t see the sun so well.
I noticed that the times changed and were in military time. I wonder why the colors were chosen for the graph? I think that we should keep daylight savings time so that we can get an extra hour of sleep. I also want to keep it because I like when the clock goes back and forward.
Bailey,
Why do you think they chose those colors for the graph? What colors would you choose if you were making that graph? I think one thing that’s interesting is that they use the same colors – and scientific terms – for the sunrise colors and the sunset colors; it’s all twilight.
What do you like about the clock going back and forth? Variety? Lots of people complain bitterly, but I kind of like it too. Apparently, it’s actually not good for our bodies!
Notice: Red line, Teal, Greenish-Gray, Months, shades, Numbers, Key, title, words, shapes, yellow line.
I think she should keep daylight savings time because it’s nice to have an extra hour in the fall.
Zara,
Right now, the US Senate voted to make daylight savings time permanent so that there’d be more light later in the day throughout the year. We’d never switch back and forth from daylight savings to standard time. That’d mean that that the way it is right now in December – when it gets light around 7:30 am – wouldn’t happen; it’d get light around 8:30, but still be light at 4 ish. You’d like it to always be lighter later in the afternoon and stay dark later in the morning?
One thing I noticed in the graph was that the graph used military time.
I haven”t lived in Juneau for long so I don’t know much about the light. However in Kodiak, the light would be roughly the same. The sun during the summer stays up for a while in Nome as well as Kodiak. Kodiak gets roughly the same hours of summer daylight and winter daylight as Nome. During summer Kodiak gets around 1-2 hours of complete darkness similar to Nome.
haven’t**
Vic,
Welcome to Juneau. 🙂
Did you live in Kodiak? Here’s a link to the sun graph of Kodiak: https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/usa/kodiak. Does it match your experience? How does it compare to the sun graph of Nome or of Juneau?
I noticed that in California (Disneyland), since it is closer to the equator, it has pretty equal sunlight all year round. I wonder why Alaska doesn’t have at least two time zones to itself, as it as big as one-third of the rest of the U.S’s land area.
I think Alaska representative Mary should vote to have Alaska have multiple time zones. Also, daylight savings time is a very outdated idea that I think causes unessesary annoyance.
Solar midnight right now is at 2 am and solar noon is at 2. The graph flattens out a bit during the winter. Twilight lasts for a while in Juneau and the rest of Alaska but in Disneyland, it is very short. I wonder what makes it different? Also, in Alaska, the daylight hours change a lot throughout the year but in Disneyland, it’s basically the same for the whole year.
Headline: Graph of Daylight Hours Throughout Alaska
Living with solar time makes more sense but I prefer if it doesn’t get dark early so living in human clock time in Nome would be nice because It’s nice when it doesn’t get dark early and in Nome, solar noon is later. I would like it if Mary Peltola should vote to pass the bill to make daylight savings time permanent because it would be more efficient.
Kaia,
Those graphs make it very clear how different the daylight (and twilight) is in Alaska from further south! It’s interesting, I agree, that not only does the graph flatten out further south, but the actual length of twilight changes depending on location and time of year. It’s all connected to how the earth is tilted on its axis as it’s revolving around the sun and where the sun’s rays are hitting directly – or not.
This video link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebILyc9vEL8&ab_channel=LiacosEM is a bit goofy, but also very clear in how it shows how the sun’s rays are hitting the earth differently at different times of the year. I found it helpful. (It’s also listed up above in text under resources.)
Isn’t it weird/interesting to think about, “if I could choose what human clock time to attach to what solar time, here’s what I’d pick….” Seems like you’re like my son — he prefers as much light as possible later in the (clock time) day.
P.S. I remember you from the Charter School; it’s nice to see you again. 🙂
Changing the bill would be good for some people but i think it would be good because i get an extra hour of sleep but the only thing thats bad about it is all the clocks that have to be changed around the world.
Neeka,
The U.S. laws can only decide on times within the U.S., not throughout the world. There are some countries that choose to do Savings Time and some that don’t. In the US, individual states and Native American tribes have some choice about what they do as well. Arizona, for instance, as a state, does NOT do Daylight Savings Time, but the Navajo Nation within Arizona, does do Daylight Savings Time. I think people have to be super clear about which clock time they mean when they’re making plans in Arizona!
the disadvantages of that are that in Nome it might feel later at 6pm than juneau. Or the times of when sunlight is are different
Hi there!
1. Something I noticed was that the y-axis was all even numbers up to 22.
2b. One advantage of us and Nome being in the same timezone is that if I had family there, we would be on the same schedule so we could talk easier. One disadvantage is that the sun is up earlier for them, so when they start the day in the light (or dark depending on time of year) we’ll be a little behind.
Tynly,
Those numbers up to 22 (and a line for 24) are “military time.” Instead of 1-12 am and pm, it’s 1-12 is am and then 13-24 is what would be 1-12 pm.
I agree about it being nice to be in the same time zone for talking, but they do have a lot more dark later in the morning than we do (the sun comes up later in the day there.). Hard to decide!
I noticed that the curves towards the start and end of the year represents ovals, and I wondered if the graphs would have visible dips during the winter season if there were no clouds? I personally don’t have much of an opinon on daylight savings time. But I belive that Mary Peltola should vote to keep daylight savings, since it gives us more worktime and daylight. Sometimes, in the winter, the darkness can make you feel more sad about the weather, so getting ‘more sunlight’ is a good idea.
noticings: green, blue, numbers, letters, pink x-ais, y-axis, months, hours, curves, title, time, date, key, corners are dark, the middle is light, the sides are identical, horizontal lines, vertical lines,
B.
Advantages: If you know someone from Nome and you are in Juneau (or the other way around) you can call or text them anytime and you don’t have to worry about time differences
Disadvantages: The sun rises and sets at different times so one town will be going to school when it is dark and the other will be coming home from school when it is dark.
Option 3.
I personally like daylight savings time so I would like her to vote not to get rid of it. I think it’s nice to have an extra hour of sleep or an extra hour of the day. Also, this would be very confusing for everyone.
1. I notice that the shift in the types of light changes one hour at Daylights Saving Times. I wonder if the hours of sunlight change year to year or if there are any significant trends over the years. Has climate change impacted our hours of sunlight?
I think representative Mary Peltola should vote against the bill to make Daylights Saving Times permanent. Daylights Saving Times orients residents of Alaska in the winter and does not harm or obstruct anything. It has been working for years and there isn’t a sufficient reason to change it. If Alaska gets rid of Daylights Saving Times it will confuse relations with the rest of the country and world. Mary Peltola should set an example for the rest of the representatives and vote ‘no’.
see graph black gray blue white colors shape line keys
wander how long it took to get the info for the graph
I Notice that the daylight alters a ton througbout the year. I wonder how many minutes exactly its changes this year. It relates because our climate In Juneau Alaska in the winter is very dark and in the summer its very light.
I wonder how many people it takes to measure the sunlight annually and how much it costs per year to do so.
Chase,
I did write to my friend, Rosemary Walling, who is an astronmer (and who works at Marie Drake Planetarium) and sent her your question. She said she’d be happy to respond, but it will take a little while longer (it took me time to write to her!). I’ll let you know as soon as I know. 🙂
Thanks for this question.
Option 2.
The advantages of the two being in the same time zone are if you are calling or face timing with anyone in Alaska it’s easy because you don’t have to think about the time change. If you were to face time someone in Arizona you would have to be conscious of that. The disadvantages are that it gets dark in Nome in the winter and light in the summer faster than in Juneau.
I noticed that once I knew what all the other levels of daylight meant it was easy to read the graph and understand what it meant.
I noticed how the graphs showed the brightness for each time of day and shifted up during daylight saving time.
2.)living in Juneau is dark in the winter and bright in the summer, but living in nome would be extremely dark in the winter and just about never get dark in the summer.
I noticed that the closer it got to the center, aka June/July it got lighter for longer.
I wonder how much people it takes to measure the sunlight all year
I think that between July and Aug have the most solar moon and between January Febuary and December have the least solar midnight. I think the disadvantages of having Nome and Juneau in the same time zones are that it’s going to be night in one part and day in the other. And the advantages of having that is nothing there are no advantanges in having Juneau and Nome in the same time zones.
I wonder who made the graph and why?
Option A.
It would be different. In Nome, they have darker winters and brighter summers. The human clock if not used to such changes would be very disoriented. In the winter in Nome, you have a higher chance of Seasonal Affective disorder whereas in Juneau you have a lower chance. In the summer it’s harder to sleep in Nome because it is constantly bright.
I noticed that once I knew what all the other levels of daylight meant it was easy to read the graph and understand what it meant.
– avery s
I noticed how the colors were very well chosen to show how much the sun actually shines. The fact that Nome and Juneau are in the same time zone I believe is very problematic. It affects the residence of Nome with the grievance of having to be up early with no light for about 3 hours (from 06), however for Juneau is doesn’t matter that much because the time zone we have is very well set for our location.
Erik,
I agree that our time zone matches our location well and I feel lucky. It’d be interesting to talk to people who actually live in Nome to find out if it matters to them. I lived in Valdez for several years and it didn’t get light until close to 10 in the mornings. I, personally, found that very hard, but others got used to it I think.
I think mary Peltola should keep daylights saving time
I wonder Who made the rules for the time zone and why it can’t be dark and daytime. in the US
i wonder why on the graph there is not daylight.
I wonder who found all this information.
I think living in Nome would be different from Juneau because in the winter there wouldn’t be as much sunlight during the day. It seems like it would be a big change and it would be weird.
I would 100% recommend this to other classes it made sense as long as you actually read it. I think a good catchy headline for this would be “Alaska’s time Zone”
The reading it is key, right? So how do we help people understand it enough to read it?
Something I noticed about the Daylight graph is that the amount of daylight changed a lot from April to September. I wonder if the daylight changes affect anything in Nome. This graph affects me and my community because the daylight changes can be noticed all over Alaska. A catchy headline for this would be, “Astronomical Changes”.
I notice that the colors on the graph are meant for different times of the day. I wonder why this graph is important to Alaska. This relates to my community because of the different time zones. A catchy headline could be “ Alaska and its time zones”.
Bella, Did you get a chance to look at the sun graph of Fairbanks? Did the different types of twilight match your experience in the summer? How different or similar do you think Nome would be?
i wonder why the midnight solar starts to show up around when the seasons get darker
Braden, I’m not sure I understand your wonder. The solar noon is when the sun is directly over the same meridian/longitude as Nome. Solar midnight is the opposite – it’s when it’s 180 degrees on the other side of the earth from Nome. Do you mean the yellow shows up brighter on the with the darker background than with the lighter background?
I notice that the colors on the graph are making interesting shapes. I wonder what the graph is about. This relates to my community because it is about the time zones in Alaska. A catchy headline could be “The Time Zones of Alaska!”. For this graph, I really just wondered what it was about and what the colors’ amounts were.
Emma, It seems like this graph was a hard one to understand right away. It takes time to figure out what’s going on. The clock hours of the day are on the y axis and the months of the year are on the x axis. The lightest blue color on the graph is when it’s daylight. The darkest is night and the grey/blues are different levels of twilight. It shows how in Nome there’s much less daylight in the winter months than in the summer months – which I think is pretty similar to Fairbanks. One of the other things to sort out is the horizontal lines. The red line is “solar noon” – that means when the sun is highest in the sky in Nome for that day. When people invented clocks, they decided that “noon” would be the name for that time during the day – it’s when shadows are shortest. However, when people decided that they wanted clocks to connect not to the sun, but to clocks in distant places, solar noon and clock noon became different times of day. It’s particularly crazy in Nome, where solar noon is at almost 3:00 in the afternoon in the summer! Can you find that on the graph?
In the Daylight Graph, I noticed that it was very grainy, as in it was very pixelated. This may be from the limited amount of data.
I wonder why there is a little lock underneath the Autumnal Equinox? There is nothing to explain why it is there.
This relates to me and my community by showing how long we might have to cut firewood or other outside things.
A catchy headline for this graph is, “Dwindling Nightlight?”
I would recommend that other classes use this graph. It is incredibly easy to understand, but the spot where daylight savings are might confuse some people at first. I do not have any suggestions for how to improve the graph, except to make the green for daylight savings easier to see.
Liam,
thanks for all this helpful feedback. The lock was what the interactive feature of the graph (timeanddate.com/sun) shows when you choose a specific date to focus on – and it puts those double white lines. I chose the autumnal equinox because it was the day that made the most sense to compare with the other locations in Alaska (and the rest of the US). (Did you look at the other graphs of other places – including Fairbanks?). I covered up the lock – just now – in the main Nome graph – but left them in the smaller graphs because they were so small. I’ll fix them later.
As for the pixelation, I’m not sure why it’s like that. Originally, we were going to use the graphs at gasima – which are more brightly colored and not so pixelated – but they only had about 25 places in Alaska, whereas the other site had all sites. That seemed worth the tradeoff. The daylight savings spots are confusing – I didn’t know what they meant for a while – but I like how their jaggedness emphasizes how much clock time – and daylight savings time – is a humanmade invention that’s, frankly, kind of weird and jarring.
I noticed how July and June were higher than the rest of the year.
Arianna,
Did you have an idea why July and June were higher than the rest of the year? Do you see how it’s showing that there is MUCH more daylight – and also more of the lightest type of twilight?
I notice that there is much more Daylight than the other types of ‘light’.
I wonder what Nautical Twilight is.
It relates to me because I live in Alaska.
Catchy Headline: “The Lights of Nome!”
Alex,
I love the headline!!
Nautical Twilight is explained in the introductory slides (#2). Ask your teacher to look at those – or look at them yourself when you’re getting ready to comment. Now, there’s also a whole reveal on the website about this graph with lots more information. Nautical twilight is when it isn’t completely dark, but it’s dark enough for sailors (and others) to see most of the constellations and therefore be able to navigate by the stars. During Civil twilight, it’s not yet dark enough for that. How – if at all – is Nome’s graph different from the graph of Fairbanks and Juneau? How would your experience of daylight and time be different in Nome than where you are now?
i noticed a pattern. also i noticed that the daylight savings sorta messes up the graph
I noticed in this graph is the graph had too many names for twilight, why do we need so many?
Kolton,
That’s an important question! I had certainly noticed that there were different degrees of darkness between broad daylight and pitch darkness, but I’d never thought of naming them all before. If you look at slide 2 in the slide deck, it explains the different types of twilight. Check it out; I think it’ll explain why astronomers and sailors and scientists have made so many labels.
The graph we looked at was the sun graph. I noticed that when there was daylight savings it was up by one.
One thing I notice about this graph is that daylight savings moves up and down depending on if Nome was going back or forwards. I wonder since Nome and Fairbanks are similar to where they stand if they have the same light cycle and pattern.
Claire,
I had the same question about Nome and Fairbanks – and thought others might have that question too! So I made a slide further in that shows the sun graph for Fairbanks (and some other places in Alaska and Disneyland!!). You can also see that comparison in the reveal. I hope you check it out.
Looking back, one thing I noticed with the Monday prompt is that June and July looked to have the most amount of sunlight. Which I found really cool! is there any reason why for that in specific, like is that from the sun being the closest to the earth? or another reason?
Caylin,
Pretty much.
There’s more sunlight in the summer because the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the sun (and the Southern Hemisphere is tilted away>)
I noticed that daylight savings really messes up time.
On the graph, I noticed that in 2022, there was a Solar Midnight which caused the daylight to not get above the Civic Twilight zone. I wonder why there was such a big daylight zone during the Solar Noon time. This map relates to me and my community because I live in Alaska, and some other people may have the same questions as me. I think a catchy headline for this graph would be “Sun Activity in Alaska, What Does it Tell Us?”
Kerris,
If you look at slide 2 in that set, you’ll see definitions of the different types of twilight and of solar noon and solar midnight. Solar Noon means the time when – for that particular location – the sun is the highest it will be in the sky for that day. When we first started making clocks, we used them just in specific locations, we said, let’s call that time of day noon – or 12:00. But then, when we made time zones, they stretched the clock time of noon very far – 2000 miles in Alaska!!! – and so most of the places in that time zone didn’t have solar noon at noon anymore, maybe noon is 11:00 am or 2:00 pm or, in Nome, even later!
Something I noticed is that they used a lot of neutral colours like grey or black. I wonder, why don’t the yellow and red lines align? This relates to me because we have similar light times as Nome so it also is about our light. A headline would be the Light Times of Nome
I noticed on the Daylight graph that it moves up then down again because of daylight savings day, I’ve never seen a daylight graph before so I thought that it was really cool that it showed something like that. I know that Nome is a little far from Fairbanks, but would our daylight graph look similar if we had one?
(I really liked this graph, do you think we could have more on nature and minerals?)
Regan,
Go back and look at the complete slide set; I put a slide that compares Fairbanks to Juneau to Unalaska to Hyder to Disneyland to Utqiagvik! I had the same question you did. Also, you can go to timeanddate.com/sun and look up any place in the world to see their sun graph. It’s very cool.
Thanks for the feedback about your preferences. It’s super helpful. We have one planned for winter forecasting in a few weeks and one about the Bering Sea and plant and animal species impacted by climate change for January. I just put your request for more nature and minerals on our list of things to consider. It’ll take time, but we’ll work on it, for sure. 🙂
what I notice is it is the same pattern going in and out. what do I wonder there is no civic twilight in April. how does this relate to the community it is probably are graph. what is a catchy headline for this daylight takeover?
Aurora,
Do you mean the same pattern on both sides of the graph – symmetrical? I agree.
I’m thinking about your wondering about civic twilight. If you draw a vertical line at April, it will show you what kinds and how much light there is at different times of day – and some of it is civic twilight. Can you look at that light of civic twilight and see when it’s widest and narrowest? I think civic twilight is longest in mid-May.
Daylight takoever is a very catchy headline!
I notest that between June and July there is more daylight. I wonder why there is more daylight in June and July. This relates to me because it might be close to the daylight we git. I think a catchy title is Nome your time (know your time) 🙂
I notice Daylight happens more during solar noon. I also notice solar Midnight is more during the night.
Solar noon is the time when the sun is highest in the sky. When people invented clocks, they marked that time as “noon” (12:00 pm.). Solar midnight is the exact opposite time – when the sun is highest in the sky on the other side of the earth!
I noticed that delight saving makes twilight even farther from midnight
I noticed that in nome they only get to civic twilight. I wonder if in fairbanks it gets any darker. This graph was relatable because we get to experience the dark, yay. The endless sunlight, yay, and daylight savings yay.(All of those were sarcastic by the way.) A catchy headline might be ‘The Sometimes Sleepless Graph of Sunlight’.
Ali,
We thought you all might have questions about Nome’s sun graph would compare to Fairbanks – and so we included a graph of Fairbanks as well. If you go to the slides, you’ll find one that shows Fairbanks, Hyder, Unalaska, Juneau, Utqiagvik — and Disneyland, so that you could compare. One of my big questions is: If you could choose a time zone for Fairbanks, what would you choose? And, similarly, how do you feel about Standard Time vs Daylight Savings Time in Fairbanks? There’s a lot of interesting history and decision making to do around those questions. If you click on the reveal, you can see more about that all.
I noticed that there is a random yellow line at the bottom and the graph does not show what it is. I wonder what the yellow line means means. This could relate to my community because it could be important. A cachy headline for this could be The Light of Alaska
Owen,
The graph that we posted has a key that shows that Solar Midnight is the yellow line. The definition of the solar noon is on slide 2. It’s the time during the day when the sun is highest in the sky for that particular location.
Today on Monday the 14th, I saw the Alaska graph on the 2022 Sun graph for Nome. I noticed that delight saving makes twilight even farther from midnight. I wonder if this is helpful for anyone and if so, how?
Something that I notice about this graph is that there are three different kinds/types of twilight on it. I wonder why there are so many names for different twilights? This relates to my community because daylight savings time has just happened. A headline for this graph could maybe be “Day vs Night”.
I notest that daylight savings affects the graph so much. I wonder why?
Kayla,
Daylight Savings Time changes all the clock times that people (specifically, Alaskans) assign to solar times. Solar time is whatever the sun is showing – when it rises (sunrise), when it’s highest in the sky (solar noon), when it sets (sunset). That solar time is set by the relationship between the earth and the sun and how the earth is rotating on its axis. Clock time, though, is set up by people. Sometimes it matches solar time and sometimes it doesn’t — and so when humans decide that they want to change clock time (to or from daylight savings time), clock time and solar time match differently.
The graph that we looked at was Daylight. I wonder what Autumnal Equinox and solar midnight mean. I think that a good name for the graph would be “Northern Light.”
I notice that June and July have the most amount of daylight. I wonder why there are two little white lines. This relates to my community by telling me what time of day is the best time to sleep. I think a good headline for this is Jimmy’s bedtime schedule.
I would recommend this graph to other classes. I would improve it by adding more labels to things. I wonder why there is a lot of light in the summer.