# Sunrise: are you more likeky to see it because you're awaking or because you're still awake? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 14, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunrise-are-you-more-likeky-to-see-it-because-youre-awaking-or-because-youre-still-awake/628260 "2012-07-14T23:28:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunrise-are-you-more-likeky-to-see-it-because-youre-awaking-or-because-youre-still-awake/628260/21 "2012-07-15T12:14:19Z")
I answered “still awake” because most of the times I actually _see_ the sunrise I have stayed up all night, or occasionally woke up at 2 am, which I count as still being up because it doesn’t really feel like the next day until 3:30 am. I actually wake up between 3:30 and the dawn a couple times a month, but never actually see the sun rise. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunrise-are-you-more-likeky-to-see-it-because-youre-awaking-or-because-youre-still-awake/628260/22 "2012-07-15T12:58:20Z")
Graveyard shift worker here - so it usually comes up during my shift. ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunrise-are-you-more-likeky-to-see-it-because-youre-awaking-or-because-youre-still-awake/628260/23 "2012-07-16T14:56:03Z")
I work mornings, so I see it because I’m waking up. If I didn’t have to keep a schedule for work, it would be the other way around. I’m a night owl at heart. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunrise-are-you-more-likeky-to-see-it-because-youre-awaking-or-because-youre-still-awake/628260/24 "2012-07-16T15:12:00Z")
I can’t really pick either - I get up at 5 am to take my morning medication, and I have insomnia so most days I am either already up or just getting up, and on those rare occasions when I am up most of the night and manage to get to sleep at 3 or 4 am, I am getting up in an hour anyway. I do much of my sleeping between 6 am - 10 am, and 2 pm to 4 pm. My normal bedtime is 930 pm, and I get a couple hours sleep then as well. The wonders of clonidine at 5 am, 1 pm and 9 pm. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunrise-are-you-more-likeky-to-see-it-because-youre-awaking-or-because-youre-still-awake/628260/25 "2012-07-16T15:37:05Z")
I wake up before dawn frequently in the winter and I rarely go to bed after dawn in the summer. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunrise-are-you-more-likeky-to-see-it-because-youre-awaking-or-because-youre-still-awake/628260/26 "2012-07-16T15:47:41Z")
It is really easy, as others have said, to see the sunrise in the winter. I mean, there have been plenty of times when I have awoken when it was still dark, and not that early either. ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunrise-are-you-more-likeky-to-see-it-because-youre-awaking-or-because-youre-still-awake/628260/27 "2012-07-16T16:29:03Z")
Yup, I voted “still up” because I’m a night owl at heart, but it’s really seasonal: in the winter I will be up before the sunrise on at least the weekdays. I am much, much more likely to be still-awake at any given 4AM or 5AM than already-awake, though. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunrise-are-you-more-likeky-to-see-it-because-youre-awaking-or-because-youre-still-awake/628260/28 "2012-07-16T18:38:50Z")
Because I’ve been awake for hours, if it’s this time of year (summer). Because I’m waking up if it’s winter. I hibernate… ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunrise-are-you-more-likeky-to-see-it-because-youre-awaking-or-because-youre-still-awake/628260/29 "2012-07-17T17:13:11Z")
I wake up sometimes at 5 or 6 AM, not because my alarm clock goes off but because I just wake up for some reason. But I almost always go back to sleep. I’m regularly up past midnight or 1AM, but only a few times have I stayed awake all night to see the sunrise. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunrise-are-you-more-likeky-to-see-it-because-youre-awaking-or-because-youre-still-awake/628260/30 "2012-07-17T17:27:44Z")
Until I had a child, I almost never slept before 3:00am. Now that I have one, I rise at 3:30am in order to get some housework done before she wakes. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunrise-are-you-more-likeky-to-see-it-because-youre-awaking-or-because-youre-still-awake/628260/31 "2012-07-17T23:22:26Z")
it’s the absolute only thing I miss about delivering papers. The end of my route was in a water community and most mornings I would get to see the most beautiful sun rises over the water. Now I sleep through them. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunrise-are-you-more-likeky-to-see-it-because-youre-awaking-or-because-youre-still-awake/628260/32 "2012-07-18T00:22:06Z")
I usually go to bed before 3am. But sometimes I have to get up early enough for work that I will see the sunrise. I don’t really have a consistent schedule. I hate sleeping past about 11am, though, so I almost never stay awake until morning. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunrise-are-you-more-likeky-to-see-it-because-youre-awaking-or-because-youre-still-awake/628260/33 "2012-07-18T00:34:35Z")
My current shift means I have wake up at 5am. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunrise-are-you-more-likeky-to-see-it-because-youre-awaking-or-because-youre-still-awake/628260/34 "2012-07-18T02:52:08Z")
Seldom see it because I’m usually just getting to sleep. If I’m working a morning shift, I don’t notice it because I’m rushing around getting ready to leave. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunrise-are-you-more-likeky-to-see-it-because-youre-awaking-or-because-youre-still-awake/628260/35 "2012-07-18T03:19:50Z")
I start work at 7 AM, and have about a 25 minute commute, so I see the sunrise quite often during the winter months on my way in to the office. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunrise-are-you-more-likeky-to-see-it-because-youre-awaking-or-because-youre-still-awake/628260.md?page=1)