Enjoy the earliest sunrise of 2012 on Wednesday, 6/13

The Sky This Week, 2012 June 12 – 19 — Naval Oceanography Portal

This week brings us into the roughly two-week “season” of summer solstice phenomena. The 13th marks the date of the earliest sunrise here in Washington. This will occur at 5:42 am EDT; by the week’s end sunrise will occur about a minute later. The latest sunset for the year will occur on the 27th. Set squarely between these dates is the solstice itself, June 20th, which will be the year’s longest day. The reason we have these apparent discrepancies results from the Earth’s elliptical orbit around the Sun. This causes our planet’s orbital velocity to vary slightly over the course of a year, while its rotation rate stays relatively constant. I

The Sky This Week, 2012 June 12 – 19 — Naval Oceanography Portal