In the Northern hemisphere, yesterday's was the earliest sunset of the year. Kieron Taylor, writing for the Sheffield Astronomical Society in the U.K., has a pretty good explanation of why this is so. Suffice to say, it's because the earth's orbit around the sun is elliptical.
Here, then, is a quick chart of the shortest days of the year, for Evanston, Illinois:
Date |
Significance |
Sunrise |
Sunset |
Daylight |
4 Dec |
Earliest sunsets start |
07:02 |
16:19 |
9:16 |
13 Dec |
Sunsets get later |
07:10 |
16:20 |
9:09 |
21 Dec |
Solstice, 18:35 UTC |
07:16 |
16:22 |
9:06 |
30 Dec |
Latest sunrises start |
07:19 |
16:28 |
9:09 |
8 Jan |
Sunrises get earlier |
07:18 |
16:37 |
9:18 |
28 Jan |
5pm sunset |
07:07 |
17:00 |
9:53 |
4 Feb |
7am sunrise |
07:00 |
17:09 |
10:09 |
You can get sunrise information for your location at wx-now.com.