Because the sun’s diameter equals 1/2 degree, that means the sun has been traveling its own diameter (14 days x 1/2 degree = 7 degrees) northward daily.Īt 65 degrees north latitude (Fairbanks, Alaska Siberia Iceland), the sun also rises and sets close to due east and due west on the day of the equinox. Two weeks later, on April 4, the sun rises about 7 degrees north of due east and and sets about 7 degrees north of due west. Also, the sun’s daily change of position along the horizon is greater the farther north or south you are from Earth’s equator.įor example, at around 40 degrees north latitude (Denver, Colorado island of Sardinia, Italy Beijing, China), the sun pretty much rises due east and sets due west on the day of the March 20 equinox. The answer is that the degree of the sun’s movement along the horizon depends on two things:Īs mentioned above, the sun’s movement along your horizon – at sunrise or sunset – is most perceptible around the equinoxes and least perceptible around the solstices. Hello, I’m curious to know how far the sun moves north or south along the horizon each day? Like half its width? A quarter of its width? We received a question from a reader about the movement of the sunset or sunrise along the horizon as Earth moves between seasons. Solstice = sun still.Īre you a photographer? Submit a composite image of the sun’s shift between now and the June solstice to EarthSky How much does it move? That’s where the word solstice comes from. What happens at the solstice? At mid-northern latitudes, there’s a two- to three-week time period where you probably won’t discern any movement of the sun along the horizon. You’ll easily see the sun’s northward shift between now and the June solstice. It’s enough to note the sunrise or sunset point every week or 10 days. Just be sure to observe from the exact same location every day. You’ll notice the sun’s movement with respect to trees and other objects in the foreground. Or just find a clear spot – a place where you can see the horizon – and stand in the same spot whenever you watch the sunrise or sunset. No grid of streets to help you? Try tracking the sun’s progress along the horizon by placing bits of tape on an east- or west-facing window of your home. You can see it move quickly further north each day afterward. On the equinox, the sun rises directly in the east and sets directly in the west. So, just by looking out the doorway of your home, you might be able watch the progress of the sun as it slides from south to north, in the weeks and months following the March equinox. and in other parts of the world are oriented either north-south or east-west. The sun’s movement from day to day along your horizon – at the sunrise or sunset point – is most noticeable around the equinoxes. Sunset is now making its way north, as illustrated in this 2016 photo composite by Abhijit Juvekar.Ĭlick here to read about 2022’s March equinox, aka the vernal equinox. Watch the sun move on your horizon, a feat more easily accomplished around an equinox.
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