Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1907-09-08
SHORT DAYS AND LONG

How long, after all. is day? Tho
Biographies say that It is the time re-
CURED Tor the earth To turn once ON
its axis; that it measures twcnty.four
hours by the clock: and that "A frnc.
ton more than three hundred and
slNtyfivc of them are to BE- found III
year.
1t Is Il good plan. when one reads
anything in 1t book, to test il when
he can Tor himself. We want 10 500
just how long 1t takes tho earth to
turn over once. Let us take anyone
OF the fixed stars that chance TO nc
III line with some convenient point.
and, watch in hand. notice the pcc,sc
moment at which the star touches. let
us say. a particular tree, branch, on
stccplc on the horizon line Ii. on the
next evening We stand ut precisely the
SAME spot. ana sight the same s,as.
again IN line with the SAME point as
before. then we shall know that the
earth has turned on its axis Just once
Curiously enough, however. we shall
discover IL this is done carefully that.
III spite of what the books say. il docs
not require twcnty-four hours for Tho
earth Ia turn over once About sour
minutes before the day is up. by the
clock, the oartL has revulved uuco ana
brought the star back To It's OIL posi-.
tion in the sky. Really then. tho earth
turns on its axis once in twcnty-thren
hours. fiitys minutes. and four
seconds, and as one can easily roci
on. makes something more than .hrno
hundred ana siNty-sX revolutions in
year.
The Sun is the Thing.
hut human beings are not so much
i"tercstcd In tho stars MS in the sun.
We really don't care mucn how long
IL tales tho earth To turn over and
bring the star back again To the same
point IN the sky, or how many times
III year a star seems To 20 by. We
set or clocks and reckon our year bv
We turning OF the earth under the
sun: and because the earth not mig
'arns under the sun but also g,es
round 1t, II takes about -four minutes
longer To bring tho sun up to its old
place in the Sky than 10 bring hazel,
star. This comes about simply
enough. Suppose ono is i'm rom
looking out OF the window at n tree.
u he turns round once exactly lic w;l
ma himself looking straight az the
tree again. But II he tried tho snmn
tninS when he was on moving train
II" would lind that while he was max
ing The turn the tree had fallen re.
mind. He would then, according to
the way he twirled, nave to turn n
lil'lc more or little less TO brjn,,
inc tree straight before his nosa
therefore. il is not quite true that
n day is the time required for tho
earth to turn once on its axis. 1t real
~ IS this time. plus the four minutes
or so required for 1t TO turn and look
back at the sun The time reuuiraI
Tor this extra turn is not the .,,uno
Mt all times in the year. One can
easily see, in the case of the moving
train. that the faster the cars were
moving or the nearer the track tho
rec stood. the more the latter would
seem to shift its position. Since the
earth is some three mlllon Nilcs near
or inc sun In winter than in summer.
and since also the nearer the sun il is
the faster it travels. the difference
between star day ana sun day is great
est in winter.
Shortest is the Longest.
Oddly enought it happens that De-
cember %, which has the least day
Hight of any day in The year, and is
therefore commonly said to be the
shortest OF all days, is really tho
longest. 1t does. us n matter of fact.