Astronomers/planetary scientists. Could you please explain why the earliest sunrise, and latest sunset, are not synced up? Similarly for latest sunrise and earliest sunset. The shortest day (typically December 22nd) is the average in between these two peaks. I have looked it up before, and it had something to do with the precession of the earth, but I still don't fully understand. I would love to be able to picture what happens in a model with the sun and the earth.