Darkness Falls in Maine?? (Yarmouth, Lebanon: school, living, title) - (ME) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

Bydand · 12-13-2007, 05:15 PM

Yep, generally time to turn on the lights by 4:00, gets light in the morning around 7:00.

Summer is something to get used to though. Sunup by 5 and still light at 8ish.

quiet walker · 12-13-2007, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flycessna

... The crystal clear winter nights arn't bad either...

flycessna - how is the night sky in Maine? Down here in DC the sky is a very brightly glowing pink haze (kinda depressing) all night long. I remember when I was a kid (about 40-50 years ago) we could see the milky way and all the other stars.

quiet walker · 12-13-2007, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elcarim

I just started looking through the webcams that I've grown to count on every day, and it appears that I've missed it! At 4:29 ET, it's dark there!! That's so funny. I'm sitting here at 3:29 CST, and it's sunny out. It was a surreal feeling......one of those look at the clock 3 times to verify moments.

thanks for posting this thread

K-Luv · 12-13-2007, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elcarim

I just started looking through the webcams that I've grown to count on every day, and it appears that I've missed it! At 4:29 ET, it's dark there!! That's so funny. I'm sitting here at 3:29 CST, and it's sunny out. It was a surreal feeling......one of those look at the clock 3 times to verify moments.

That is because of Maines proximity to the eastern border of the Eastern Time Zone. Even though it is the same time of day as in say, Indiana; Indiana will receive more daylight because it is on the western border of the Eastern time zone. So while darkness is descending on Maine at 4:30, there is about what, two more hours of daylight in Indiana?

treeluvr · 12-13-2007, 06:59 PM

We can all rejoice on the 21st because THE DAYS WILL BE GETTING LONGER!!!

starwalker · 12-13-2007, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by quiet walker

flycessna - how is the night sky in Maine? Down here in DC the sky is a very brightly glowing pink haze (kinda depressing) all night long. I remember when I was a kid (about 40-50 years ago) we could see the milky way and all the other stars.

I enjoyed the skies when I was up there this fall... even with the yard light on, you could see more than I see at home here in NC...

I was staying outside of Bangor...

CapeCodder · 12-13-2007, 07:23 PM

The sky where I live is amazing. There are no street lights on the road. The first time I looked up and saw the sky for the first time it took my breath away.
Beautiful.

starwalker · 12-13-2007, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CapeCodder

The sky where I live is amazing. There are no street lights on the road. The first time I looked up and saw the sky for the first time it took my breath away.
Beautiful.

If I end up far enough away from "town" I just might have to take up astronomy again... do Mainers get a good view of the aurora borealis also? Several years, when we were living "beyond the power lines" and in a canyon so we had dark skies, we had what I considered a good show... enough that we woke up all the kids and bundled them up over the PJs to spend time laying out in the snow watching!

What we saw was nothing like some of the shots that a friend from Alaska posts on his blog, though!

flycessna · 12-13-2007, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by quiet walker

flycessna - how is the night sky in Maine? Down here in DC the sky is a very brightly glowing pink haze (kinda depressing) all night long. I remember when I was a kid (about 40-50 years ago) we could see the milky way and all the other stars.

Not every night but quite often during the winter it will be crystal clear. And this may be the norm for a lot of Mainers here on the forum but for me it’s still inspiring:

I have a camp on one the smaller lakes in Denmark. During the winter we will often be the only people on the lake. At nighttime I can go outside when the air is crisp and it literally looks as though I could reach up and touch the stars. The Milky Way is clear and on some night's I swear you can see the different shades of black/gray/blue in space. I can usually clearly pick out the satellites too. Also when there is snow on the ground and if the air is still you cannot here anything. There is no sound. That silence and clarity both make for an awesome scene. You’ll have to come to Maine and check it out!

Bydand · 12-13-2007, 08:16 PM

Starwalker, we get amazing displays of the Northern Lights up here. Some years more than others of course. Earliest I can remember seeing them was Aug 28th 1996. Why can I remember that date so well? That is the night one of my nephews was born and driving home from the hospital that evening after seeing the little guy for the first time, the night sky was just dancing with the Northern Lights.

I have sat up all night while out camping in October/November huddled under a blanket sitting beside a small lake I used to hike into watching just breathtaking displays.

Actually the difference between Maine on the Eastern edge of the time zone and the far western side of the same time zone is about 1 hour 15-20 minutes of daylight. Living in Michigan right on the Lake Michigan shore, I would log onto a few Maine web cams and watch the sunrise here, then get to watch it again there. Same with the sunsets. What can I say, I like both and if I can get to watch 2 sets of each in a day - BONUS!