Day lengths in southern and northern hemispheres?

[ronburgundy]

The Sun is not exactly at the center of Earth's orbit, and the Southern Hemisphere's December Summers are closer to the sun than is the June Summer of the Northern Hemisphere. Could this have any possible effect on day length? IOW, is the day length at 48 degrees North during the June Solstice the exact same length of the day on the December solstice at -48 degrees South?

I realize that day length is about axis tilt, but I am wondering whether there is any possible small effect of the elliptical orbit that makes the day lengths of the Hemispheres not perfect mirror images of each other.

Thanks in advance for your reply (and for not calling me an idiot).

 

[Worldtraveller]

The Sun is not exactly at the center of Earth's orbit, and the Southern Hemisphere's December Summers are closer to the sun than is the June Summer of the Northern Hemisphere. Could this have any possible effect on day length? IOW, is the day length at 48 degrees North during the June Solstice the exact same length of the day on the December solstice at -48 degrees South?

I realize that day length is about axis tilt, but I am wondering whether there is any possible small effect of the elliptical orbit that makes the day lengths of the Hemispheres not perfect mirror images of each other.

Thanks in advance for your reply (and for not calling me an idiot).

It should be the same. The light isn't affected much by the distance. Hypothetically, the southern hemisphere's summers might be slightly warmer, but I don't think it's measurable.

 

[Bomb#20]

You are not an idiot. The earth rotates 366 times in 365 days, which means 24 hours is about 361 degrees of rotation -- the extra degree makes up for the change of angle between the earth and the sun. But the rotation rate is fixed (almost) while the rate of change of angle speeds up and slows down -- fastest at perihelion, slowest at aphelion. So the extra one degree per day is just an average. Daytime is shorter at perihelion and longer at aphelion; nighttime is the other way round. Back of the envelope, I make the difference about eight seconds.