stupid question

[A. Joseph Ross]

On 24 Oct 2005 at 21:39, Doug Drown wrote:

> Christopher,
> During the winter you'll notice that AM signals travel farther during
> the day as well.  I live well up into central Maine and some midwinter
> days can clearly pick up stations in New York until at least
> mid-morning, sometimes all day if the weather's right.  John's
> response applies there, too: during the winter, the sun, in the
> Northern Hemisphere, is, as it were, farther away: sunlight reaches us
> at a lower angle, thus enabling the "mirror" to function longer.  I'm
> not particularly good at physics, but that's the best I can explain
> it.  Bottom line: It all makes for fun radio listening.  I was
> thrilled when, one night as a teenager growing up in the Worcester
> area, I picked up WOAI in San Antonio.

It isn't so much that the sun is farther away -- the difference in distance is negligible -- it's 
that in winter the northern hemisphere is tilted away from the sun, so that it's a lower angle -- 
the sun never gets as high in the sky -- and the days are shorter, so that the sun is in the 
sky for a lot less time.

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A. Joseph Ross, J.D.                           617.367.0468
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