Info about 12 Midnight
12 Midnight
The transitional time period between one day and the next day, or the moment when the date officially changes is known as midnight. Midnight occurs at 12:00 AM, though the term AM can be a little misleading. Just before 12:00 is 11:59 PM and although midnight is considered to be AM, many people like to believe at exactly 12:00 it is neither AM nor PM, and AM (or morning) begins at 12:01. While we perceive the point between one day and the next to be a specific time no matter what time of the year it is, the Roman time system considers midnight to be exactly halfway between sunset and sunrise, which will change depending on which season it is. Due to the difference in time zones, 12 midnight in one place will not be 12 midnight in another. For instance 12 midnight on the west coast of the U.S. is actually 3 AM on the east coast.
If midnight did not exist, there would be no telling or way to define the exact moment that divides one day from the next. Instead of using the term “12 midnight”, simply saying midnight is often preferred because 12 midnight can be confusing for individuals using a 24-hour time rotation. If you look at your digital clock or computer at midnight (12:00 exactly), the clock will read AM, signaling it is the beginning of morning. However, the “AM” is signaling the following 12-hour period, not 12:00 itself. Midnight is somewhat of a border time period, so for that entire minute, technically it is does not morning or night. Even at 12 noon, it is technically incorrect to call 12:00 “PM” as well because this is the point that is exactly at the halfway point of one day and therefore is also not AM or PM. However explaining this concept to children just learning how to tell time and distinguish the difference between AM and PM, it is either to call the halfway point noon and the time period between days midnight.
You may have heard of the term Solar Midnight; this is the time opposite of the solar noon, in which the sun is closest to nadir and the night is equal distance from dusk to dawn. Due to the difference in time zones and daylight savings time, the solar midnight will change on the time of the year rather than the time zone. Historically, midnight had an ancient geographic association with the direction of north (and noon with south) in the northern hemisphere. In current day Polish, Russian and Ukrainian, they consider their words for midnight to mean north.
The time clocks are generally represented in a variety of ways; using a 24-hour clock (rather than switching to 1:00 PM, they will continue with the times and 1:00 PM is actually 13:00) and the 12-hour clock in which there are two sets of every time during the day, with it restarting at noon. For instance, there is a 1:00 AM for the morning and a 1:00 PM for the afternoon. In the travel industry, skipping noon and midnight is often done to avoid confusion, therefore they would rather use 12:01 AM or 11:59 PM to distinguish the point in which the days change.