Spectacular Sunrises and Sunsets in the Netherlands

About the Sunrises & Sunsets :

Sunrise occurs the moment the disc of the sun peeks above the East horizon due to the rotation of the Earth !Sunset is just the opposite !It occurs the moment the disc of the sun completely disappears below the western horizon! The Blue hour is the period of around 20-30 minutes before the sunrise & after the sunset !Its the time of the daay when sun has just has set or is about to rise when sky overhead takes on a deep blue colour with landscape suffused with bluish light!Its the ideal time to take photographs of the landscape as well as of the moon as the moon’s glare is not so bright in contrast to the sky !Twilight is the period after sunset or sunrise when all or part of sky is illuminated by reflected sunlight though the sun is not visible above the horizon! Dawn is synonymous with start of morning twilight! Technically dusk is the period of twilight between complete darkness & sunrise(or sunset).In common usage ‘Dawn” refers to morning while dusk refers to only evening twilight!Sunrise to Sunset period is called the Sideral Day!The Golden hour is the period when the Sun is close to the Horizon on a sunny day ,its light appears warmer & softer!Its also known also known as magical hour popular with photographers & filmmakers !Sideral day is the time it takes for the Earth to rotate about its axis so that the distant stars appear at the same position in the sky!A Sideral day measures the rotation of the Earth relative to the stars rather than the Sun! It helps astraunomers keep time and know where to point their telescopes without worrying about where Earth is in its Orbit !

During my trip to/stay at Netherlands I got a bit curious about the timings of Sunrise & sunsets(especially Sunset timing as the summer evenings were quite full of sunlight even upto 9:30-10 pm).Therefore I started some reading & collated the following information for my lovely readers:-

SUNRISE & SUNSETS IN THE NETHERLANDS : The times of sunrise & sunsets in Netherlands are significantly influenced by the countries’ very northern position in the Hemisphere! Relatively high on the North the days in summer are long & short in winters !With upto 16:50 hrs the longest days are happening in June & on the other hand the longest & darkest nights are in winter(in the Southern atmosphere its the other way round) !In Dec.in Amsterdam nights lasts almost 17 hours!Sunrise in AMS starts at 5:29 in morning & sunset is currently(as on 11/7/22) late at 22:02hrs!In Eindhoven it was 5:32 & 2155 hrs resp.on 11/7/22 !The sunrise & sunsets in most countries of NLs are in the order of their Geographical position from east to west, so an approx. direction of the sun course!Since the orbit of the sun is elliptical sunrise or the sunset happens on the whole longitude at the same time !

Duration of the sunset: The distance from the Equator & path of the sun determines not only the time of the sunrise or sunset, the the farther a country is from the equator the more oblique the sun’s path is the horrizon !And this causes a different duration that a sunset takes! AMS lies on the 52nd degree of Northern lattitude & is therefore very far away from the equator while a sunset near the equator only lasts about 20 min !In Netherlands this period averages 46 min.!In June its about 50 min in AMS while in Dec. its 41 min.

All the time Zones with D.S.Ts (Daytime saving times) also called summer time were introduced in early 20th century.To use the longest daylight in the evenings ,a clock change one hour ahead to summertime is the simplest solution!Like this it is possible to save energy & promote outdoor activities!Nowadays most changes between winter & summer time happen at the same time even across national borders!Not all countries require to change their Zones at the same time ,these desisions are taken by the respective Governments !

DATES FOR TIME CHANGE :The change from daylight saving time to winter time (standard time) is done in eachcountry according to indivisually defined rules!In European union it is always changed on the last Sunday of March & October!Summer time in Europe starts 1-2 weeks later & ends one week earlier!Since European union changes the clock at same time> 2.00AM CET in March & 3.00Am CEST in October! Winter time is summer time in Southern hemisphere ! Due to movement of the sun Northern & Southern tropic,the Annual times also shift depending on the position on the Globe! In the south hemisphere the sun is closer in December than the northern hemisphere !At the European winter months there is summer!As a result in the Southern Hemisphere you change to summer time while the northern countries switch to winter time!

What is the longest sunset ? Near the Arctic Circle (65 degrees north latitude), the duration of a solstice sunset lasts about 15 minutes. At the equator (0 degrees latitude), the solstice sun takes a little over 2-1/4 minutes to set. Regardless of the latitude, duration of sunset is always longest at or near the solstices.

Longest sunsets in June and December:

Here’s a natural phenomenon we might not have imagined. That is, the longest sunsets happen around the time of the solstices(a Solstice is the time or date ,twice each year, at which the sun reaches its maximum or minimun declination marked by the longest or shortest days-about 21st june and 22nd December). We’re talking about how many seconds it takes for the body of the sun to sink below your western horizon. Sunsets take a longer time around solstices, and a shorter time around the equinoxes(a Equinox means the time or date,twice each year,at which the sun crosses the celestioal equator when day & night are of approximarely equal length-about September & March). It’s true whether you live in Earth’s Northern or Southern Hemisphere.As viewed from both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the sun rises and sets farthest north at the June solstice and farthest south at the December solstice.

Now consider that the farther the sun sets from due west along the horizon, the shallower the angle of the setting sun. That means a longer duration for sunset at the solstices.Meanwhile, at an equinox, the sun rises due east and sets due west. That means – on the day of an equinox – the setting sun hits the horizon at its steepest possible angle.

How much longer is the sunset?

The sunset duration varies by latitude. But let’s just consider one latitude – 40 degrees north – the latitude of Denver or Philadelphia in the United States, Sardinia in the Mediterranean, or Beijing in China.At that latitude, on the day of a solstice, the sun sets in about 3-1/4 minutes.That’s half a minute longer than the sunset at the same latitude on the day of an equinox. The equinox sun at 40 degrees north latitude sets in roughly 2 3/4 minutes.

At more Northerly temperate latitudes, the sunset duration is greater; and at latitudes closer to the equator, the sunset duration is less. Near the Arctic Circle (65 degrees north latitude), the duration of a solstice sunset lasts about 15 minutes. At the  equator  (0 degrees latitude) , the solstice sun takes a little over 2-1/4 minutes to set. In June 2022,the Northern hemisphere summer solstice & Sothern hemisphere winter solstice falls on June 21,2022 at 09:14 UTC (that is 4:14 am in Central North America ,translate UTC to your time !The Earth has about 24 time Zones,but when Scientists mention a time,its almost always Coordinated Universal time ,UTC !We have to translate UTC to our local time Zone !

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard by which the world regulates the Clocks & time !Its about within 1 second of mean solar time at 0* longitude Prime meridian such as UT1 and is not adjusted for Daylight Saving time (DST)!Its affectively a successor to GMT !GMT is same as the UTC !Time Zone offset of GMT is UTC !GMT is used in cities such as London Edinburg ,Dublin ,Lisbon …!CET is a standard time which is 1 Hour ahead of UTC!Time offset for UTC may be written as:CET=UTC + 01.OO Its used in most parts of Europe & few North African countries ! Amsterdam is 2 hours ahead of UTC (AMS time =UTC +2 Hrs ) India is 3.5 hours ahead of Amsterdam ! Time Zone in India (New Delhi) IST =UTC/GMT +5.30 Hrs

My readers may kindly point out any misinformation in the writeup on this site which will be duly corrected! I am very grateful to the site Earthsky.org created by Deborah Byrd & the Wikipedia for some information which my valued readers may find useful !HAVE A NICE DAY FRIENDS 💕 HAPPY READING !