I'm watching Pres Bush's casket arrive at capitol.

[LAS14]

It's almost pitch dark here in Boston, and the sky above the capitol is light. How can that be?

tia
las

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. The sky may be light because perhaps the sun hasn't quite set yet. n/t

[jberryhill]

2. Because of axial tilt

Sunset in Boston is 4:12 PM today.

In DC sunset is 4:46 PM.

In Miami, sunset is 5:29.

The sun is below the equator, so nights are longer in northern latitudes.

Compare this to, say, June 22 around the time of the summer solstice:

Boston - 8:25PM
DC - 8:37 PM
Miami - 8:15PM

DC is only ten minutes behind Boston at that time (and DC is also somewhat to the west of Boston).

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. You're giving the questioner a lot of latitude. NT

[LAS14]

5. chuckle chuckle.

[jberryhill]

9. I went to the school of hard equinox

[DashOneBravo]

11. Ha

[LAS14]

4. Thanks!

It dawned on me that it must have something to do with "the land of the midnight sun" vs 12 hours of sun and no sun at the equator. I've tried to guage the difference between Boston and Maine and it never seemed to settle down. You have now explained it!!! There's more of a difference at different times of the year!

Thanks again!

[jberryhill]

6. I occasionally find myself in the tropics in summer

And whatever one might think of living in a Caribbean paradise, you have to realize that, even in summertime, it's lights out just after 7PM. Because of the earth's curvature, there is no long twilight period either. It's like flipping a switch.

I always find it disorienting to be in warm weather and have the sun go down that early, since people from northern latitudes tend to associate warm weather with long evenings.

[LAS14]

7. Yes, I had the same feeling when we vacationed in Hawaii. nt

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. Spent one summer solstice in Anchorage.

That was pretty weird. Sunset, such as it was, was at about 11:30 p.m. Today it was at 3:45 p.m.

[fierywoman]

8. Washington DC is several hundred miles south of Boston.

It gets darker sooner further north.

[Wounded Bear]

12. Like explained above...

I remember a few years ago, was talking to my daughter on the phone. I live in Seattle, she lives in Southern California. She's actually lived her whole life there; when she grew up and moved out, I came home. She was confused when I told her it was still light out at 9 pm or so (that was in the summer).

As you go north, days get longer in the summer and shorter in the winter than farther south.

[LAS14]

13. Thanks for that succinct clarification! nt

[Fla Dem]

14. You need to look at a map.

Washington DC is further west than Boston.

I am on the East Coast of Florida and my relatives in Boston are envious that my sunset is almost 1 1/2 hours later than theirs.

Today's Sunset times

Boston.....................4:10 pm
Washington DC.........4:44 pm
NE Coast of FLorida...5:24 pm