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"The change of night and day"
students of grade 4 "G" of secondary school No. 24
Angelica
Angeliki Gennadievna
Simferopol
2015
A day is a cycle of time during which the sun, rising from the east, passes across the sky and sets in the west, then, when night falls on our half of the earth, the sun makes a revolution from the other part of the planet and rises again from the east.
A day lasts exactly 24 hours. Each hour consists of 60 minutes. Every minute of 60 seconds.
How does the change of day and night occur on earth?
Due to its rotation around its axis, the Earth sometimes faces the Sun with one side or the other. Consequently, the sun's rays fall first on one side and then on the other side of the earth's surface. On the side facing the Sun we have day, on the opposite side we have night. This is how the change of day and night occurs.
Conventionally, the time of day is divided into several parts:
- Morning - begins with the dawn of the sky in its eastern part and the sun rising over the horizon.
- Day - the movement of the sun across the sky from east to west.
- Evening - sunset in the western sky and the gradually fading colors of the sunset.
- Night - Night time. At this time, the sun passes on the other side of the globe relative to us.
Since the Earth consists of continents located on both sides of the globe, the time of day in each part of the Earth is different. So, if the night is still lasting in New York, then in London it is already morning, in Moscow it is midday, and in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky it is already evening.
Changing the time of day
Many photographers tried to capture the change of day and night. By taking many pictures in a row from one position, it was possible to trace the smooth movement of the sun across the sky, see the movement of the stars, and get beautiful videos of sunrise and sunset. Features of time-lapse photography are when a camera mounted on a tripod in a stationary position takes a series of photographs at certain intervals over a long period.
If the length of the day is constant, then the duration of the components of the time of day varies depending on the time of year. This is due to the tilt of the earth and the movement around the sun along an elliptical path. So in summer, daylight lasts longer than night, and in winter, on the contrary, the night is longer than the day.
Moreover, in different parts of the globe the length of day and night is different. For example, in Crimea it gets dark quickly in the summer, the night is dark, and in St. Petersburg June is famous for its “white nights”, the sun sets not far below the horizon and therefore the nights seem bright.
Different times of day look and feel different. This is connected with the biological (internal) clock by which a person is accustomed to living (day - wakefulness, night - sleep) and with the variety of color contrast, as well as with mood. By the morning, strength increases, the day passes in study, business, work, and in the evening there is fatigue, gradual withdrawal, rest and sleep.
Twice a year the Earth is in such a position relative to the Sun that its surface facing it is illuminated completely from the north to the south pole. Twice a year the Earth is in such a position relative to the Sun that its surface facing it is illuminated completely from the north to the south pole. At this time, all over the globe, day is equal to night. These are the days of the spring (March 21) and autumn (September 23) equinoxes. This time throughout the globe, day is equal to night. These are the days of the spring (March 21) and autumn (September 23) equinoxes.
Various ancient peoples, be it the Egyptians, Greeks or Romans, tried to explain all the phenomena occurring around them, and this is how the fabulous explanation of the change of day and night has reached our times. The legends of different nationalities are generally similar.
The change of day and night: a fairy tale explanation
With the words “the sun has risen” or “the sun has set” we begin or end another day in life. Our ancestors endowed sunrises and sunsets with great power. These phenomena had sacred meaning for our ancestors.
And indeed, during sunsets and dawns, various rituals and ceremonies, both church and magical, were performed. From here arose the fairytale explanation of the change of day and night. Every social media user has a photo of a sunset or sunrise. Today, modern people do not understand these phenomena and do not know their sacred meaning.
Ancient Greek myth
The ancient Greeks had a fabulous explanation for the change of day and night. The titan Hyperion had three children: Selene, Eos and Helios. Shining with cold light, Selene was the goddess of the Moon. On her head was a crescent moon. She rides along the night road in a chariot drawn by oxen. Selena leaves this road when her star children fade and the marble columns turn pink.
Eos, the goddess of the dawn, announces the coming of a new day. Following Eos, their brother Helios rushes from the east on a shining golden chariot. The Greeks revered him no less than the powerful and supreme Zeus. Helios' rays penetrated into the farthest and darkest corners through black clouds. Their warm light awakened all living things. Thanks to the rays, trees and fruits grew. Helios is the terror of all criminals. The rays of this god blind them. Even the gods cannot hide from such rays.
Helios knows everything about divine “deeds”. It was he who suggested to Demeter that her daughter Persephone was kidnapped by Hades to his dark kingdom of shadows. But it is midday when Helios reaches the west. By evening, Helios's horses and he himself become tired and blush. God heads to his palace to rest, where the divine retinue rests, and Selene’s chariot sets out on the road... This is the Greek cycle of day and night. Their fairytale explanation is similar to the Slavic myth.
Slavic vision of day and night
The ancient pagan Slavs' idea of the world was very complex and confusing. The sun and sunlight were different concepts for them. For each season, the Slavs had a separate “sun” - Yarilo, Kupailo, Svetovit and Kolyada. They called the sun itself Khoros. By the way, this word meant “circle.” This is where the word round dance comes from.
Like the Greeks, the Slavic fairytale explanation of the change of day and night is simple - Dazhdbog (the sun - the giving god) rode a golden chariot across the daytime sky, harnessed by fiery winged horses. Morning and evening dawns were considered sisters. Moreover, the morning dawn was the wife of the sun. The Slavs celebrated their wedding. Like the Greeks, the Sun is an all-seeing eye that watches over everything and everyone. That’s why criminals operate at night to this day.
Ancient Indian concept of the emergence of a new day
The Indian legend about the change of day and night is distinctive. The fairytale explanation says that there was no night. It appeared thanks to one tragic incident. Brother Yama and sister Yami lived. The brother died, and the lonely sister had no choice but to endlessly mourn her unfortunate brother. To all the requests and exhortations to calm down and stop shedding tears, Yami only exclaimed: “But he died today!” The gods saw the truth: for the girl to calm down, night is necessary, only then will a new day come. They created the night. Morning came, Yami forgot about grief. And the Hindus began to say “alternate day and night.”
Conclusion
For many years, our ancestors believed in these myths and legends about the creation of day and night, right up to the Middle Ages. Religion and mystical ideas were replaced by science. Nicolaus Copernicus 500 years ago wrote a book about how our planet rotates around its axis, passing through an orbit around the star Sun. So, according to Copernicus, there was a change of day and night.
The fairytale explanation was destroyed. And the scientist’s book was banned by the Pope because it contradicted the Christian religion. Copernicus became famous as the creator. The name of this system comes from the name of the sun god Helios, so, according to Copernicus’ theory, the Sun is located at the center of the Universe. The Polish astronomer died of a stroke on May 24, 1543, he was 73 years old.
For the inhabitants of the Earth, the constant change of day and night is a common occurrence. All life on the planet is subject to the rhythmic alternation of dark and light times of day. However, this does not happen on all planets. For example, on Venus, which rotates very slowly around its axis, a year lasts less than two Venusian days. Jupiter rotates on its axis in about five Earth hours, and Saturn in ten.
The Earth makes a complete revolution around its axis in 23 hours 56 minutes 4.1 seconds, during which time day gives way to night - the sidereal day passes. The sidereal day is understood as the time of a complete revolution of our planet around its axis relative to the stars, considering them to be infinitely distant.
The alternation of day and night creates favorable conditions for all life on Earth. As you know, the Earth has the shape of a ball, and its axis of rotation is constantly inclined to the orbital plane at an angle of 66°33"22". Because of this, the sun's rays illuminate different parts of the earth's surface differently, therefore the length of day and night is different everywhere. It depends on the geographic latitude and time of year.
Only twice a year - on the days of the spring and autumn equinox (March 20-21 and September 23 - approx.) the length of day and night is the same at all latitudes of the Earth and is equal to 12 hours. The sun at this time is at its zenith above the equator, and the terminator - the line separating light and shadow on the surface of the planet, passes through the poles, coinciding with the direction of the meridians. The sun's rays fall on the equator these days at an angle of 90°, and the Northern and Southern Hemispheres heat up evenly.
On the days of the summer and winter solstice (June 22 and December 22 - note from the site), the planet experiences the longest night and the shortest day. For example, on June 22, the Sun is at its zenith over the Tropic of the North (23°07" N). In the Northern Hemisphere on this day at all latitudes, the day is longer than night. North of the Arctic Circle (66°33" N). ) polar day is established - the Sun does not set below the horizon for days. At the Arctic Circle, the polar day lasts a day, and at the poles it lasts up to six months. The Southern Hemisphere is less illuminated on June 22 than the Northern Hemisphere. Here, at all latitudes, the day is shorter than the night, and in the southern polar region the polar night sets in.
The Earth moves around the Sun, but the tilt of the planet's axis of rotation remains constant. Gradually, the height of the Sun above the horizon in the Northern Hemisphere decreases, the days become shorter and the nights longer. Finally, September 23 arrives - the day of the autumnal equinox, when the length of day and night is equal at all latitudes. From this moment on, the Sun begins to illuminate the Southern Hemisphere more. On December 22, the day of the winter solstice, the hemispheres seem to change places. On this day in the Southern Hemisphere at all latitudes, the day is longer than the night, and there is a polar day beyond the Antarctic Circle. At the same time, polar night reigns in the northern subpolar regions.
White nights occur south and north of the polar circles in both hemispheres. At this time, evening twilight turns into morning, and darkness does not come. Beyond the Arctic Circle, white nights precede the polar day - approx. At different latitudes, white nights differ in duration: for example, in St. Petersburg they last from June 11 to July 2, and in Arkhangelsk - from May 13 to July 30.
The satellite of our planet, the Moon, rotates around its axis at such a speed that when moving around the Earth, it is constantly turned to one side. If the Earth moved around the Sun like the Moon and was constantly turned to it with one side, the natural conditions on the planet would change enormously. One hemisphere of the Earth would be illuminated all year round, while the other would be constantly in shadow. The illuminated hemisphere would heat up to a temperature of more than 100 ° C, which means that all rivers, seas and oceans would evaporate. On the dark side of the planet, the temperature would be below -100 ° C, here all the water would turn into ice. At the border of light and shadow, due to large temperature differences, hurricanes would rage, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions would occur.
For the inhabitants of the Earth, the constant change of day and night is a common occurrence. All life on the planet is subject to the rhythmic alternation of dark and light times of day. However, this does not happen on all planets. For example, on Venus, which rotates very slowly around its axis, a year lasts less than two Venusian days. Jupiter rotates on its axis in about five Earth hours, and Saturn in ten.
The Earth makes a complete revolution around its axis in 23 hours 56 minutes 4.1 seconds, during which time day gives way to night - the sidereal day passes. The sidereal day is understood as the time of a complete revolution of our planet around its axis relative to the stars, considering them to be infinitely distant.
The alternation of day and night creates favorable conditions for all life on Earth. As you know, the Earth has the shape of a ball, and its axis of rotation is constantly inclined to the orbital plane at an angle of 66°33`22″. Because of this, the sun's rays illuminate different parts of the earth's surface differently, therefore the length of day and night is different everywhere. It depends on the geographic latitude and time of year.
Only twice a year - on the days of the spring and autumn equinox (March 20-21 and September 23) the length of day and night is the same at all latitudes of the Earth and is equal to 12 hours. The sun at this time is at its zenith above the equator, and the terminator - the line separating light and shadow on the surface of the planet, passes through the poles, coinciding with the direction of the meridians. The sun's rays fall on the equator these days at an angle of 90°, and the Northern and Southern Hemispheres heat up evenly.
On the days of the summer and winter solstices (June 22 and December 22), the planet experiences the longest night and the shortest day. For example, on June 22, the Sun is at its zenith above the Tropic of the North (23°07` N). In the Northern Hemisphere on this day at all latitudes, the day is longer than the night. North of the Arctic Circle (66°33`N) polar day sets in - the Sun does not set below the horizon for days. At the Arctic Circle, the polar day lasts a day, and at the poles it lasts up to six months. The Southern Hemisphere is less illuminated on June 22 than the Northern Hemisphere. Here, at all latitudes, the day is shorter than the night, and in the southern polar region the polar night sets in.
The Earth moves around the Sun, but the tilt of the planet's axis of rotation remains constant. Gradually, the height of the Sun above the horizon in the Northern Hemisphere decreases, the days become shorter and the nights longer. Finally, September 23 arrives - the day of the autumnal equinox, when the length of day and night is equal at all latitudes. From this moment on, the Sun begins to illuminate the Southern Hemisphere more. On December 22, the day of the winter solstice, the hemispheres seem to change places. On this day in the Southern Hemisphere at all latitudes, the day is longer than the night, and there is a polar day beyond the Antarctic Circle. At the same time, polar night reigns in the northern subpolar regions.
White nights occur south and north of the polar circles in both hemispheres. At this time, evening twilight turns into morning, and darkness does not come. Beyond the Arctic Circle, white nights precede the polar day. At different latitudes, white nights differ in duration: for example, in St. Petersburg they last from June 11 to July 2, and in Arkhangelsk from May 13 to July 30.
The satellite of our planet, the Moon, rotates around its axis at such a speed that when moving around the Earth, it is constantly turned to one side. If the Earth moved around the Sun in a similar way and was constantly turned to one side towards it, the natural conditions on the planet would change enormously. One hemisphere of the Earth would be illuminated all year round, while the other would be constantly in shadow. The illuminated hemisphere would heat up to a temperature of more than 100 ° C, which means that all rivers, seas and oceans would evaporate. On the dark side of the planet, the temperature would be below -100 ° C, here all the water would turn into ice. At the border of light and shadow, due to large temperature differences, earthquakes and eruptions would rage.
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Various ancient peoples, be it the Egyptians, Greeks or Romans, tried to explain all the phenomena occurring around them, and this is how the fabulous explanation of the change of day and night has reached our times. The legends of different nationalities are generally similar.
The change of day and night: a fairy tale explanation
With the words “the sun has risen” or “the sun has set” we begin or end another day in life. Our ancestors endowed sunrises and sunsets with great power. These phenomena had sacred meaning for our ancestors.
And indeed, during sunsets and dawns, various rituals and ceremonies, both church and magical, were performed. From here arose the fairytale explanation of the change of day and night. Every social media user has a photo of a sunset or sunrise. Today, modern people do not understand these phenomena and do not know their sacred meaning.
Ancient Greek myth
The ancient Greeks had a fabulous explanation for the change of day and night. The titan Hyperion had three children: Selene, Eos and Helios. Shining with cold light, Selene was the goddess of the Moon. On her head was a crescent moon. She rides along the night road in a chariot drawn by oxen. Selena leaves this road when her star children fade and the marble columns turn pink.
Eos, the goddess of the dawn, announces the coming of a new day. Following Eos, their brother Helios rushes from the east on a shining golden chariot. The Greeks revered him no less than the powerful and supreme Zeus. Helios' rays penetrated into the farthest and darkest corners through black clouds. Their warm light awakened all living things. Thanks to the rays, trees and fruits grew. Helios is the terror of all criminals. The rays of this god blind them. Even the gods cannot hide from such rays.
Helios knows everything about divine “deeds”. It was he who suggested to Demeter that her daughter Persephone was kidnapped by Hades to his dark kingdom of shadows. But it is midday when Helios reaches the west. By evening, Helios's horses and he himself become tired and blush. God heads to his palace to rest, where the divine retinue rests, and Selene’s chariot sets out on the road... This is the Greek cycle of day and night. Their fairytale explanation is similar to the Slavic myth.
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Slavic vision of day and night
The ancient pagan Slavs' idea of the world was very complex and confusing. The sun and sunlight were different concepts for them. For each season, the Slavs had a separate “sun” - Yarilo, Kupailo, Svetovit and Kolyada. They called the sun itself Khoros. By the way, this word meant “circle.” This is where the word round dance comes from.
Like the Greeks, the Slavic fairytale explanation of the change of day and night is simple - Dazhdbog (the sun - the giving god) rode a golden chariot across the daytime sky, harnessed by fiery winged horses. Morning and evening dawns were considered sisters. Moreover, the morning dawn was the wife of the sun. On the day of the summer solstice, the Slavs celebrated their wedding. Like the Greeks, the Sun is an all-seeing eye that watches over everything and everyone. That’s why criminals operate at night to this day.
Ancient Indian concept of the emergence of a new day
The Indian legend about the change of day and night is distinctive. The fairytale explanation says that there was no night. It appeared thanks to one tragic incident. Brother Yama and sister Yami lived. The brother died, and the lonely sister had no choice but to endlessly mourn her unfortunate brother. To all the requests and exhortations to calm down and stop shedding tears, Yami only exclaimed: “But he died today!” The gods saw the truth: for the girl to calm down, night is necessary, only then will a new day come. They created the night. Morning came, Yami forgot about grief. And the Hindus began to say “alternate day and night.”
Conclusion
For many years, our ancestors believed in these myths and legends about the creation of day and night, right up to the Middle Ages. Religion and mystical ideas were replaced by science. Nicolaus Copernicus 500 years ago wrote a book about how our planet rotates around its axis, passing through an orbit around the star Sun. So, according to Copernicus, there was a change of day and night.
The fairytale explanation was destroyed. And the scientist’s book was banned by the Pope because it contradicted the Christian religion. Copernicus became famous as the creator of the heliocentric system. The name of this system comes from the name of the sun god Helios, so, according to Copernicus’ theory, the Sun is located at the center of the Universe. The Polish astronomer died of a stroke on May 24, 1543, he was 73 years old.