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45-481: A vigil may be held on the eve of a major religious festival ( feast days ), observed by remaining awake—"watchful"—as a devotional exercise or ritual observance on the eve of a holy day . Such liturgical vigils usually consist of psalms , prayers and hymns , possibly a sermon or readings from the Holy Fathers , and sometimes periods of silent meditation . The term "morning" means that

90-543: A boon from Brahma that he could not be killed during day or night, neither by human nor animal, neither inside his house nor outside. Vishnu appeared in a half-man half-lion form (neither human nor animal), and ended Hiranyakashipu's life at twilight (neither day nor night) while he was placed in the threshold of his house (neither inside nor outside). Twilight is important in Islam as it determines when certain universally obligatory prayers are to be recited. Morning twilight

135-569: A defensive position. Astronomical twilight is defined as when the geometric center of the Sun is between 18° and 12° below the horizon. During astronomical twilight, the sky is dark enough to permit astronomical observation of point sources of light such as stars , except in regions with more intense skyglow due to light pollution , moonlight , auroras , and other sources of light. Some critical observations, such as of faint diffuse items such as nebulae and galaxies , may require observation beyond

180-413: A form of peaceful protest or public mourning. Examples include the numerous public vigils during the protests against police violence and war as well as public vigils for victims of mass shootings, which can occur as a remembrance or commemoration of a death or traumatic event. These vigils typically begin with an announcement or speech, and can be silent or include chanting, song, or prayer. Public vigils in

225-404: A lower angle. The observer's earthly location will pass through the various twilight zones less directly, taking more time. Within the polar circles , twenty-four-hour daylight is encountered in summer, and in regions very close to the poles, twilight can last for weeks on the winter side of the equinoxes . Outside the polar circles, where the angular distance from the polar circle is less than

270-415: A polar night: between about 72°34' and 78°34' north or south. Solar noon at astronomical twilight during a polar night: between about 78°34' and 84°34' north or south. Solar noon at night during a polar night: between approximately 84°34' and exactly 90° north or south. At latitudes greater than 81°25' North or South, as the Sun's angular elevation difference is less than 18 degrees, twilight can last for

315-494: A vigil is often held when someone is gravely ill or mourning. Prayers are said and votives are often made. Vigils extend from eventual death to burial, ritualistically to pray for a loved one, but more so their body is never left alone. During the Middle Ages , a squire on the night before his knighting ceremony was expected to take a cleansing bath, fast , make confession , and then hold an all-night vigil of prayer in

360-552: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Twilight Twilight is sunlight illumination produced by diffuse sky radiation when the Sun is below the horizon as sunlight from the upper atmosphere is scattered in a way that illuminates both the Earth's lower atmosphere and also the Earth's surface. Twilight also is any period when this illumination occurs. The lower

405-433: Is a night with only civil twilight which lasts from sunset to sunrise. At the winter solstice within the polar circle, twilight can extend through solar noon at latitudes below 72.561° (72°33′43″) for civil twilight, 78.561° (78°33′43″) for nautical twilight, and 84.561° (84°33′43″) for astronomical twilight. Twilight on Mars is longer than on Earth, lasting for up to two hours before sunrise or after sunset. Dust high in

450-593: Is a remnant of this practice. Christmas Eve is a time of reflection for Christians all over the world. Vigils are also commonly observed on Holy Days in the Catholic , Lutheran , Anglican , and Methodist Churches. In the Eastern Orthodox Church an All-Night Vigil (consisting of Great Vespers , Matins and the First Hour ) is held on the eves of Sundays and all Major Feast Days (such as

495-426: Is no fixed consensus on when the period of evening starts. Despite the less favorable lighting conditions for optical astronomy , evening can be useful for observing objects orbiting close to the Sun. Evening (and morning) serves as the optimum time for viewing the inferior planets Venus and Mercury . It is a popular time to hunt for comets , as their tails grow more prominent as these objects draw closer to

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540-534: Is on June 21st , while the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere is on December 21st . In Arctic and Antarctic latitudes in wintertime, the polar night only rarely produces complete darkness for 24 hours each day. This can occur only at locations within about 5.5 degrees of latitude of the Pole, and there only on dates close to the winter solstice . At all other latitudes and dates,

585-488: Is when morning prayers ( Fajr ) are done, while evening twilight is the time for evening prayers ( Maghrib prayer ). Also during Ramadhan, the time for suhoor (morning meal before fasting) ends at morning twilight, while fasting ends after sunset. There is also an important discussion in Islamic jurisprudence between "true dawn" and " false dawn ". In Judaism, twilight is considered neither day nor night; consequently it

630-649: The Twelve Great Feasts and the Feast Days of important Saints ) during the liturgical year . In the Methodist tradition, Watchnight Vigil services are celebrated on New Year's Eve . When a Jew dies, a watch is kept over the body and Tehillim are recited constantly, until the burial service. In Christianity , especially the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions,

675-463: The chapel , preparing himself in this manner for life as a knight. For the knighting ceremony, he dressed in white as a symbol for purity, and over that was placed a red robe to show his readiness to be wounded, over which a black robe was placed as a symbol of his willingness to die for his king. In some countries, including the United States and Australia, vigils are held in public spaces as

720-477: The Earth, including the entire United Kingdom and other countries in northern Europe and even parts of central Europe . This also occurs in the Southern Hemisphere, but occurs on December 21. This type of twilight also occurs between one day and the next at latitudes within the polar circles shortly before and shortly after the period of midnight sun. The summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere

765-464: The Sun is below the horizon. Examples include when drivers of automobiles must turn on their headlights (called lighting-up time in the UK), when hunting is restricted, or when the crime of burglary is to be treated as nighttime burglary, which carries stiffer penalties in some jurisdictions. The period may affect when extra equipment, such as anti-collision lights, is required for aircraft to operate. In

810-404: The Sun is beneath the horizon, the dimmer the sky (other factors such as atmospheric conditions being equal). When the Sun reaches 18° below the horizon, the illumination emanating from the sky is nearly zero, and evening twilight becomes nighttime . When the Sun approaches re-emergence, reaching 18° below the horizon, nighttime becomes morning twilight. Owing to its distinctive quality, primarily

855-578: The Sun. The evening (and morning) twilight is used to search for near-Earth asteroids that orbit inside the orbit of the Earth. In mid-latitudes , spring evenings around the time of the equinox ―that is, the March one in the Northern Hemisphere and the September equinox to the south of the equator ―are favorable for viewing the zodiacal light . This time -related article

900-686: The US, civil twilight for aviation is defined in Part 1.1 of the Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) as the time listed in the American Air Almanac. Nautical twilight occurs when the geometric center of the Sun is between 12° and 6° below the horizon. After nautical dusk and before nautical dawn, sailors cannot navigate via the horizon at sea as they cannot clearly see the horizon. At nautical dawn and nautical dusk,

945-409: The United States are not necessarily religious in scope or tone and are often completely secular, but can be religious depending on the group or individuals organizing the vigil. Evening Evening is the period of a day that begins at the end of daylight and overlaps with the beginning of night . It generally indicates the period of time when the sun is close to the horizon and comprises

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990-553: The absence of other illumination, during nautical twilight, the human eye may distinguish general outlines of ground objects but cannot participate in detailed outdoor operations. Nautical twilight has military considerations as well. The initialisms BMNT (begin morning nautical twilight, i.e. nautical dawn) and EENT (end evening nautical twilight, i.e. nautical dusk) are used and considered when planning military operations. A military unit may treat BMNT and EENT with heightened security, e.g. by "standing to", for which everyone assumes

1035-496: The absence of shadows and the appearance of objects silhouetted against the lit sky, twilight has long been popular with photographers and painters, who often refer to it as the blue hour , after the French expression l'heure bleue . By analogy with evening twilight, sometimes twilight is used metaphorically to imply that something is losing strength and approaching its end. For example, very old people may be said to be "in

1080-543: The angle which defines twilight (see above), twilight can continue through local midnight near the summer solstice . The precise position of the polar circles, and the regions where twilight can continue through local midnight, varies slightly from year to year with Earth's axial tilt . The lowest latitudes at which the various twilights can continue through local midnight are approximately 60.561° (60°33′43″) for civil twilight, 54.561° (54°33′43″) for nautical twilight and 48.561° (48°33′43″) for astronomical twilight. These are

1125-473: The atmosphere scatters light to the night side of the planet. Similar twilights are seen on Earth following major volcanic eruptions . In Christian practice, " vigil " observances often occur during twilight on the evening before major feast days or holidays. For example, the Easter Vigil is held in the hours of darkness between sunset on Holy Saturday and sunrise on Easter Day – most commonly in

1170-526: The entire 24 hours. This occurs for one day at latitudes near 8°35’ from the Pole and extends up to several weeks the further toward the Pole one goes. This happens both near the North Pole and near the South Pole. The only permanent settlement to experience this condition is Alert, Nunavut , Canada, where it occurs from February 22–26, and again from October 15–19. The duration of twilight depends on

1215-496: The evening of Holy Saturday or midnight – and is the first celebration of Easter, days traditionally being considered to begin at sunset. Hinduism prescribes the observance of certain practices during twilight, a period generally called sandhya . The period is also called by the poetic form of gōdhūḷi in Sanskrit , literally 'cow dust', referring to the time cows returned from the fields after grazing, kicking up dust in

1260-400: The horizon while the brightest stars and planets can appear. As observed from the Earth (see apparent magnitude ), sky-gazers know Venus , the brightest planet, as the "morning star" or "evening star" because they can see it during civil twilight. Civil twilight statutes typically denote a fixed period after sunset or before sunrise (most commonly 20–30 minutes) rather than how many degrees

1305-517: The horizon), nautical twilight, and astronomical twilight (farthest from the horizon). Civil twilight is the time when the geometric center of the Sun is between the horizon and 6° below the horizon. Civil twilight is the period when enough natural light remains so that artificial light in towns and cities is not needed. In the United States' military, the initialisms BMCT ( begin morning civil twilight , i.e., civil dawn) and EECT ( end evening civil twilight , i.e., civil dusk) are used to refer to

1350-512: The human eye finds it difficult, if not impossible, to discern traces of illumination near the sunset or sunrise point of the horizon ( first light after nautical dawn but before civil dawn and nightfall after civil dusk but before nautical dusk). Sailors can take reliable star sightings of well-known stars, during the stage of nautical twilight when they can distinguish a visible horizon for reference (i.e. after astronomic dawn or before astronomic dusk). Under good atmospheric conditions with

1395-431: The largest cities of their respective countries where the various twilights can continue through local solar midnight: Although Helsinki, Oslo, Stockholm, Tallinn, and Saint Petersburg also enter into nautical twilight after sunset, they do have noticeably lighter skies at night during the summer solstice than other locations mentioned in their category above, because they do not go far into nautical twilight. A white night

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1440-413: The latitude and the time of the year. The apparent travel of the Sun occurs at the rate of 15 degrees per hour (360° per day), but sunrise and sunset happen typically at oblique angles to the horizon and the actual duration of any twilight period will be a function of that angle, being longer for more oblique angles. This angle of the Sun's motion with respect to the horizon changes with latitude as well as

1485-641: The limit of astronomical twilight. Theoretically, the faintest stars detectable by the naked eye (those of approximately the sixth magnitude) will become visible in the evening at astronomical dusk, and become invisible at astronomical dawn . Observers within about 48°34' of the Equator can view twilight twice each day on every date of the year between astronomical dawn , nautical dawn, or civil dawn, and sunrise as well as between sunset and civil dusk, nautical dusk, or astronomical dusk. This also occurs for most observers at higher latitudes on many dates throughout

1530-601: The month of the autumnal equinox and the month of vernal equinox between astronomical dawn, nautical dawn, or civil dawn, and sunrise as well as between sunset and civil dusk, nautical dusk, or astronomical dusk, i.e., from September 1 to March 31 of the following year in the Northern Hemisphere and from March 1 to September 30 in the Southern Hemisphere . The nighttime/twilight boundary solar midnight's latitude varies depending on

1575-485: The month: At latitudes greater than about 48°34' North or South, on dates near the summer solstice ( June 21 in the Northern Hemisphere or December 21 in the Southern Hemisphere), twilight can last from sunset to sunrise, since the Sun does not sink more than 18 degrees below the horizon, so complete darkness does not occur even at solar midnight. These latitudes include many densely populated regions of

1620-594: The observance begins on the evening before. In traditional Christianity, the celebration of liturgical feasts begins on the evening before the holy day because the Early Church continued the Jewish practice of beginning the day at sunset rather than midnight. Most likely the best known vigil is the Easter Vigil held at night between Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday . The Midnight Mass held on Christmas Eve

1665-617: The periods of civil, nautical and astronomical twilight . The exact times when evening begins and ends are subjective and depend on location and time of year. It may be used colloquially to include the last waning daytime shortly before sunset . The word is derived from the Old English ǣfnung , meaning 'the coming of evening, sunset, time around sunset', which originated from æfnian , meaning "become evening, grow toward evening". The Old English æfnian originated from æfen (eve), which meant "the time between sunset and darkness", and

1710-504: The polar night includes a daily period of twilight, when the Sun is not far below the horizon. Around winter solstice, when the solar declination changes slowly, complete darkness lasts several weeks at the Pole itself, e.g., from May 11 to July 31 at Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station . North Pole has the experience of this from November 13 to January 29. Solar noon at civil twilight during a polar night: between about 67°24' and 72°34' north or south . Solar noon at nautical twilight during

1755-573: The poles, civil twilight can be as long as 2–3 weeks. In the Arctic and Antarctic regions, twilight (if there is any) can last for several hours. There is no astronomical twilight at the poles near the winter solstice (for about 74 days at the North Pole and about 80 days at the South Pole). As one gets closer to the Arctic and Antarctic circles, the Sun's disk moves toward the observer's horizon at

1800-425: The process. Many rituals, such as Sandhyavandanam and puja , are performed at the twilight hour. Consuming food is not advised during this time. According to some adherents, asuras are regarded to be active during these hours. One of the avatars of Vishnu , Narasimha , is closely associated with the twilight period. According to Hindu scriptures , an asura king, Hiranyakashipu , performed penance and obtained

1845-514: The start of morning civil twilight and the end of evening civil twilight, respectively. Civil dawn is preceded by morning nautical twilight and civil dusk is followed by evening nautical twilight. Under clear weather conditions, civil twilight approximates the limit at which solar illumination suffices for the human eye to clearly distinguish terrestrial objects. Enough illumination renders artificial sources unnecessary for most outdoor activities. At civil dawn and at civil dusk, sunlight clearly defines

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1890-459: The time of year (affecting the angle of the Earth's axis with respect to the Sun). At Greenwich, England (51.5°N), the duration of civil twilight will vary from 33 minutes to 48 minutes, depending on the time of year. At the equator , civil twilight can last as little as 24 minutes. This is true because at low latitudes the Sun's apparent movement is perpendicular to the observer's horizon. But at

1935-440: The twilight of their lives". The collateral adjective for twilight is crepuscular , which may be used to describe the behavior of animals that are most active during this period. Twilight occurs according to the solar elevation angle θ s , which is the position of the geometric center of the Sun relative to the horizon. There are three established and widely accepted subcategories of twilight: civil twilight (nearest

1980-457: The year, except those around the summer solstice. However, at latitudes closer than 8°35' (between 81°25’ and 90°) to either Pole, the Sun cannot rise above the horizon nor sink more than 18° below it on the same day on any date, so this example of twilight cannot occur because the angular difference between solar noon and solar midnight is less than 17°10’. Observers within 63°26' of the Equator can view twilight twice each day on every date between

2025-510: Was synonymous with even (Old English æfen ), which meant the end of the day. The use of "evening" dates from the mid 15th century. The Encyclopædia Britannica defines evening as varying according to daylight and lifestyle, but says that many people consider it to begin at 5 p.m. In a social context, the Oxford English Dictionary defines evening as "the time from about 5 p.m., or sunset if earlier". As such there

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