What Causes the ‘Dawn’ and ‘Dusk’ of a Day?

The Earth spins around like a top, and that’s why we have dawn and dusk.

Imagine you're sitting on a merry-go-round at the park. When you’re facing the sun, it feels bright, that's daytime, or dawn when the day starts. As the merry-go-round keeps spinning, you turn away from the sun, and it gets darker, that’s nighttime, or dusk when the day ends.

The Earth is like a big, round ball that spins on its side as it goes around the Sun. Every time it makes one full spin, we get a new day and night. The part of the Earth that's facing the Sun gets sunlight, so people there see dawn or daytime.

When the Earth keeps spinning, that same place turns away from the Sun, like turning your back to the sun on the merry-go-round, and it becomes darker. That’s when we have dusk or nighttime.

It's all about where you are on the spinning Earth!