一際明るく輝く「明けの明星」で一日が始まる

　今朝６時に窓を開けて撮った東南東の方角の写真です。今の時季、午前６時の群馬県は、ご覧の通り、まだ薄暗いです。一際、明るく輝いてる星は金星で「明けの明星」です。ご存じの通り、金星は内惑星なので見える時間帯は朝か夕刻だけで、深夜には見られません。

　一方、木星については今の時季、毎晩南東の高い位置に出て、外惑星なので夜中に輝き続け、未明に西の空に沈みます。

　調べてみると群馬県では、今日１２月２６日の日の出は６時５４分、正午の太陽高度は３０°、日の入りは１６時３５分です。しかし、群馬県の東は関東平野ですから日の出時刻この通りでも、西部は山岳なので私の住む高崎市での実際の日の入りは１６時２０分頃です。

　ところで、太陽高度は夏至では７７°ですが、今頃の太陽高度は３０°で年間で最も低く、夏至の半分以下の高さです。このため、毎日の気温が低いです。このようなことは地軸が２３度半ほど傾いたまま公転してる結果です。明日と明後日の晩は「双子座」近くに満月が出ます。

Dear my overseas friends who are interested in Lucifer

　This is a photo taken the east-southeast direction from the window at 6 o'clock this morning. As you can see, it's still dark in Gumma Prefecture, Japan at 6 am in this season. The star that shines brightly is Venus, the morning star or we say Lucifer. As you know, Venus is an inferior planet, so it can only be seen in the morning or evening, and cannot be seen late at night.

　On the other hand, Jupiter appears high in the southeast every beginning of night in this season, continues to shine throughout the night as it is a superior planet, and sets in the western sky before dawn.

　In Gumma Prefecture, today, December 26th, the sun rises at 6:54, the solar altitude at noon is 30°, and sunset is 16:35. However, since the eastern part of Gumma Prefecture is the Kanto Plain, the sunrise time is as shown here, but the western part is mountainous, so the actual sunset in Takasaki City where I live, is around 4:20 pm.

　Not change the subject, but the solar altitude is 77° at the summer solstice, but the solar altitude at this time is 30°, the lowest of the year, less than half the height of the summer solstice. As a result, daily temperature is low. This is the result of the Earth's axis orbiting at an angle of about 23 and a half degrees. There will be a full moon near the constellation Gemini tomorrow and the night after tomorrow.

※上記の英文をネイティブの発音で聴くには英文をドラッグしてコピーし、次に貼り付けて下さい。なお、右上の欄を必ずUS Englishにしてください。https://ttsreader.com/ja/