THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
70 Falmouth Street Portland, Maine 04103
(207) 780-4249 usm.maine.edu/planet
43.6667° N 70.2667° W Founded January 19702022-2023: LXXIISunrise: 6:52 a.m.Sunset: 6:48 p.m.Civil twilight begins: 6:23 a.m.Civil twilight ends: 7:17 p.m.Sun's host constellation: PiscesMoon phase: Waning crescent moon (33% illuminated)Moonrise: 4:00 a.m.Moonset:12:21 p.m.Julian date: 2460018.29"Taking up space in Portland"
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Thursday, March 16, 2023
The Sunshine Protection Act
Although we're citizens of a calm nation which doesn't allow its serenity to be perturbed by something as trivial as political disagreement, we here at DAHQ tend to give politics a light-year wide berth. Not only do we not take any political positions, but we also shy away from any topic that would even remotely be considered political.
Then there is the Sunshine Protection Act.
While we refuse to become advocates for the pro or con side of this grandly-titled legislation, we thought it prudent to at least discuss it.
S.623 117th Congress (2021-2022)
Sponsor - Marco Rubio (R) Florida
To phrase the bill succinctly -i.e without the deluge of superfluous verbiage one tends to find gushing through such bills- this act, if passed, would make Daylight Savings Time permanent effective November 2023. One might remember that last Sunday we 'sprang forward' by exactly one hour. This chronological up-tick has been a traditional part of our pre-spring preparations since World War II, when President Franklin Roosevelt formally introduced it. He referred to this DST switch as 'war time,' in reference to a war, which, we might add, ended in, ahem, 1945.
Although the Senate passed this bill with unanimous consent on March 15, 2022, the US House of Representatives did not vote on the bill as the speaker Nancy Pelosi did not introduce it onto the House floor. Well, this year, Marco Rubio reintroduced the bill into the Senate while Rep. Vern Buchanan -also, curiously, from Florida- has introduced companion legislation in the US House. As Sen Rubio said,
“This ritual of changing time twice a year is stupid. Locking the clock has overwhelming bipartisan and popular support. This Congress, I hope that we can finally get this done.”
That is all very well and we will not argue for or against the motion since, well, we exert exactly no political influence. However, we did want to respond to one comment made by one of the Senate bill's many co-sponsors:
“It’s time to put a stop to the twice-a-year time-change madness. Science and common sense show that more year-round daylight would improve our health, help kids spend a bit more time enjoying outdoor after school activities, and encourage folks to support local businesses while on a sunny stroll in their communities. I’m all in to get the Sunshine Protection Act passed into law at last." - Senator Wyden
Are you serious?
Even if this legislation passes both chambers and is then signed into law by President Biden, the amount of daylight we receive each year won't change one iota. While the amount varies with latitude (more on this matter at a later date), the daylight any given observer experiences doesn't change from year to year provided that the observer remains in the same location. The US government has not yet figured out a way to directly affect the daylight durations along Earth. This inability to alter this duration is quite unfortunate for we all know how richly nature has benefitted from any human effort to improve it.
What will it do?
Well, for us, here's what will happen if we never revert back to Standard Time.
- The Sun will never set before 5 p.m. again. Our date of earliest sunset occurs around December 10th. On that date, the Sun will set at or around 5:04 p.m.
- However, from December 6 - January 29, the Sun will rise just after 8 a.m. On the date of the latest sunrise, around January 6th, the Sun will rise at 8:15 a.m. Civil twilight won't begin on that date until 7:42 a.m.
The daylight duration will NOT change. However, the evening will never begin before 5 p.m. again. Then again, early risers will be awakening into a dark world for a longer period of time.
We'll be watching this legislation quite closely as it meanders its way through the serpentine tracks of DC. Will we ever have to change our clocks again? Well time -which we don't yet control, Dr.- will tell.
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