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What is the angle between the noon sun on the winter solstice and the southern horizon for an observer at a latitude of 38 N?
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
At the winter solstice for the northern hemisphere, the Sun is over the Tropic of Capricorn at 23 degrees 26 minutes south. Your observer is at 38N, a difference in zenith angle of 38+23.5=61.5 degrees. The elevation of the Sun above the southern horizon at noon (more precisely "Local Apparent Noon") is 90 - the azimuth angle, or 28.5 degrees.
Noon by your clock probably isn't "local apparent noon", the time when the Sun is in transit - at its highest point in the sky. For example, I live near Sacramento, CA, and here, in daylight savings time, the Sun transited my longitude at 12:57PM today. If I were a sailor (which I used to be) I could take a single "noon sight" of the Sun and calculate my position quite accurately with a single observation.
I need to watch the Sun through my sextant, and take continuous readings of the elevation angle of the Sun. (On the deck of a pitching boat, this observation can be tricky!) I note the time when the Sun is no longer rising in the sky, and starts to set; that time, to the nearest 15 seconds, gives me my longitude. The elevation angle at that time tells me my latitude. I do need to have an accurate watch, and a copy of the Nautical Almanac, but every modern sailor has these things.
Back in 1714, the British Admiralty offered a prize of twenty thousand pounds - a king's ransom, back then! - for the invention of a clock that kept accurate time at sea, because your celestial position is only as accurate as your clock!
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoHere's how to think about it. (We have to think about it in order to come up
with the answer, so you might as well think along with us.)
-- If it were the time of the equinox and you were on the equator, then the sun
would be over your head, and the angle off the horizon would be 90 degrees.
-- You move 51 degrees north, so the sun descends 51 degrees from the zenith.
That puts it 39 degrees off the southern horizon.
-- But by the time of the summer (June) solstice, the sun has moved 23.5 degrees north
of the equator ... closer to your latitude, so it has climbed to (39 + 23.5) = 62.5 degrees
above your southern horizon.
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When is longest day in the southern hemisphere?
The winter solstice (shortest day) of the northern hemisphere is simultaneously the longest day (the summer solstice) in the southern hemisphere. The southern hemisphere summer solstice, falls between December 20 and December 23 inclusive.
In the Southern Hemisphere when are the day lengths less than 12 hours but increasing?
The day lengths in the southern hemisphere begin to increase between the Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox, same as in the Northern Hemisphere, but the time for the seasons is reversed. Winter solstice in the southern hemisphere falls on June 21 or 22 each year, and the vernal equinox is around 21 or 22 September.
When is a sticks shadow shortest on a sundial?
On a daily basis, Noon, or the solar equivalent of mid-day.On an annual basis it would depend on where you are.Since the earth tilts to a maximum of 23.44°, then if one above the latitude 23.44°, or below the latitude -23.44°, then it would be shortest at noon on the summer solstice (June in the northern hemisphere, December in the southern hemisphere).Between the latitudes -23.44° and 23.44°, there would be 2 days a year where the sun is directly overhead.
The differences in the way the sun moves between summer and winter?
the path of the Sun, or ecliptic, sweeps north and south between the northern and southern hemispheres. The Sun and the planets do notmove in these parallel paths but along The two solstices can be distinguished by different pairs of names, Summer solstice andWinter solstice are the most common name
What is the relationship between the time of year and the angle of the sun in the sky?
The angle of the Sun in the sky, its maximum height above the horizon, depends on a measurement called its declination, which varies over a range of ±23.5 degrees. The Sun's declination is zero at the equinoxes, and is +23.5 degrees at the summer solstice (in the northern hemisphere), the longest day, and -23.5 degrees at the winter solstice, the shortest day. Declination is the Sun's latitude on the celestial sphere, and the declination of any obect is equal to the latitude of a set of points along a line of latitude on the Earth's surface at which it passes overhead.
How the latitude of an observer may be determined by observation of the pole star?
The angle between the Pole Star and the horizon is equal to your latitude.
When is longest day in the southern hemisphere?
The winter solstice (shortest day) of the northern hemisphere is simultaneously the longest day (the summer solstice) in the southern hemisphere. The southern hemisphere summer solstice, falls between December 20 and December 23 inclusive.
Why does Washington state have longer daylight than southern California when they are in the same time zone?
Washington is farther from the equator than California. The closer you get to the equator, the less the amount of daylight per day deviates from 12 hours. The closer you get to the poles, the greater the difference in the amount of daylight between the summer solstice and the winter solstice. I used to live between 40° and 41° north latitude. The amount of daylight there on the summer solstice is about 15 hours, and it's about 9 hours on the winter solstice. Now I live near 30° north latitude, where we get about 14 hours of daylight on the summer solstice and about 10 hours on the winter solstice.
What is the length of night during a solstice?
It can be anything from zero hours to 24 hours, depending on where on Earth you are, and whether you are talking about the summer solstice or the winter solstice. At the summer solstice, the day is between 12-24 hours, depending on your location, and the night is between 0 and 12 hours.
What month does daylight occur longer?
The time between sunrise and sunset is a little longer each day from the December solstice to the June solstice in the northern hemisphere and from the June solstice to the December solstice in the southern hemisphere.
What is the altitude of the sun above the northern horizon at noon in Jakarta Indonesia on the winter solstice(Assume the latitude of Jakarta is 6(Degrees south)?
At the time of the southern hemisphere's winter solstice, the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer, which circles Earth at 23.44° north latitude. So at 6° south latitude the sun appears 29.44° from the zenith (a location's zenith is directly overhead). Since there are 90° between the zenith and the horizon, the angle for which you are looking is the difference between 90° and 29.44°, 60.56°.
What is the latitudenal extent of the pole star?
The northern pole star "Polaris" is visible in the sky to an observer located anywhere on earth between the equator and the north pole, i.e. anywhere with a north latitude. There is no similar southern pole star.
When is the summer solstice happening?
In the Northern Hemisphere the summer solstice will usually happen between June 20 and June 22. For the Southern Hemisphere it will occur between December 20 and December 23.
When does the northern hemisphere experience the summer solstice?
The summer solstice starts between June 20th and 21st in the northern hemisphere, and between December 21st and 22nd in the southern hemisphere.
Which lines decide duration of day and night?
Every point along the same line of latitude has the same amount of time between sunrise and sunset at any given moment. That amount of time grows gradually shorter from the time of the summer solstice until the time of the winter solstice, and it grows gradually longer from the winter solstice until the summer solstice. Also, higher altitudes at the same latitude and longitude will see the sun slightly longer.
What are the names of the imaginary lines that run around the earth south of the equator?
The Antarctic Circle is at 66 degrees 32 minutes S latitude and marks the point on the Earth's surface where the Sun does not appear above the horizon at the southern Winter Solstice. It also marks the northernmost point of the Antarctic Frigid Zone. The Tropic of Capricorn is at approximately 23 degrees 30 minutes S latitude and marks the point on the Earth's surface where the Sun is directly overhead at the southern Summer Solstice. It also marks the southernmost point of the Tropic Zone. The area between these two imaginary lines is known as the southern Temperate Zone.
When is the shortest day of the year in the southern hemisphere?
December 21st, at the very same moment as the winter solstice in the north.
