Dawn vs Sunrise
Most people are familiar with the term sunrise, which refers to the time of day when the sun first appears on the horizon and becomes visible to us. While the term implies that the sun is rising, it is actually the Earth that rotates around the sun, making the sun appear to rise depending on our location on Earth. Another term, dawn, is often confused with sunrise and believed to be synonymous. However, dawn, also known as daybreak, is the time of day before the sun has risen. Let’s take a closer look at the two terms in this article.
Sunrise
Sunrise is the time of day when the sun appears to rise above the horizon for the first time. Although the sun is stationary, this apparent motion appears real to us, and in all civilizations, it was believed that the Earth was stationary and the sun revolved around our planet. It was not until Copernicus proposed the heliocentric model in the 17th century that the world began to accept that the Earth, not the sun, was rotating.
Technically speaking, sunrise is a brief moment when the sun appears to be parallel to the horizon. However, people often mistakenly refer to the times before and after this moment as sunrise. The time of sunrise is not constant and varies depending on the location’s latitude, longitude, and time zone. Sunrise occurs later in time during winter and much earlier during summer.
For all practical purposes, sunrise is the moment in the day when the sun’s top is visible above the horizon.
Dawn
Dawn is a short period of time before sunrise characterized by very weak sunlight. This occurs because the sun is still below the horizon, but we can see the effects of light due to the scattering of its rays through a process called refraction. The period between dawn and sunrise is referred to as twilight. This process also occurs in the evenings, with some light remaining even after sunset during twilight and a specific time called dusk, which is similar to dawn in the mornings. There are various types of dawn, including Astronomical dawn when the sky is not entirely dark, Nautical dawn when there is sufficient light at the horizon, and Civil dawn when there is enough light to distinguish different objects.
Key Takeaways
- Sunrise is the moment when the sun is exactly parallel to the horizon.
- Dawn occurs before sunrise and is characterized by weak sunlight due to the scattering of sunlight through refraction.
- Dawn, also known as daybreak, occurs approximately thirty minutes before sunrise.