The June Solstice at Ness Point

Posted on by Steve Hurley

I saw this article on the BBC News website. about  people watching the Sun rise on the June solstice at Ness Point  (lat 52.481 oN, long 1.763 oE), which is the UK’s  most easterly location.

Source Dozens watch sunrise at UK’s most easterly point – BBC News

It is impressive that 200 people got up to see the sunrise there. But the story isn’t correct.  Didn’t anyone in the BBC tell the journalist who wrote this that the further north you go, the more hours of daylight there are and so earlier the Sun rises on the day of the solstice?

At Lerwick in the Shetland Islands (lat 60.155 oN) the Sun rises at  3:38 am,  52 minutes earlier than at Ness Point.

 Come on BBC ! Check the facts before posting these stories!

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Published by Steve Hurley

Hi I am Steve Hurley. I work in the IT industry. I studied for a PhD in astronomy in the 1980s. Outside work my real passion is explaining scientific concepts to a non-scientific audience. My blog (explainingscience.org) covers various scientific topics, but primarily astronomy. It is written in a style that it is easily understandable to the non scientist. Publications and videos For links to my books and videos please visit www.explainingscience.org

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