This is called an analemma and tells the story of Earth’s journey around the Sun. If you were to take a photograph of the Sun every day when the Sun is highest in the sky for where you are (local noon), you would end up with the figure-eight shape seen below. Taking into account these factors, the position of the Sun in our sky changes across the year. Without going into detail, today we know the factors that cause these changes are the tilt of the Earth and the changing distance to the Sun as we orbit around it. To realise this change people had to observe the movement of the Sun in the sky daily and look for any changes. However, celestial mechanics aren’t quite so simple.ĭepending on where we are on Earth combined with the time of year, the position of sunrise varies significantly from northeast to southeast, and sunset from northwest to southwest. We might consider the Sun simply rising in the east and setting in the west. This might not seem like a big deal when you first think about it. These mark the days with the most hours of daylight and least hours of daylight, respectively.Īt Newgrange a narrow ‘lightbox’ was included in the stone structure that lets sunlight through at sunrise on dates around the winter solstice in late December every year, illuminating the long inner chamber of this passage tomb. Two of the key milestones in our trip around the Sun each year are the summer and winter solstices. The site is a tomb whose full purpose is yet to be understood completely.īetween Solstices by György Soponyai ( Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2021) Predating both the Great Pyramids of Egypt and Stonehenge in England, Newgrange in Ireland is one of the most ancient architectural examples of predicting and using the Sun’s motions for ceremony. Here we’ll find an example that combines Sun worship with an early understanding of the Sun’s motions over the course of a year. In mid-June, the sun doesn’t set until 10:03 p.m. Instead, we can start our journey of exploration by looking back to the Neolithic period, over 5,000 years ago. Fortuna, North Dakota, which sits far to the west of much of the rest of the Central Time Zone, bears the distinction having of both the latest sunrise and sunset of the year in the contiguous U.S. Sun worship might bring to mind thoughts of gruesome human sacrifice in great temples constructed by the Aztecs, but that civilisation belonged to a relatively recent period in human history (1300–1521 CE). In turn, all manner of traditions and ceremonies were created to protect it and ‘summon’ it back. This led to ancient civilisations worshipping the Sun as a life-giver. Without the Sun, our planet would be just another barren rock in space.Įven without this deeper scientific understanding, the fundamental importance of the Sun to life was recognised. No sunlight to feed the leaves of vegetation – the vegetation that feeds most life on Earth directly or indirectly. If someone could flick an ‘off’ switch for the Sun, it would take around eight minutes for the last sunlight to complete its 150-million-kilometre journey to Earth. Sunrise of the Magic City by Jiajun Hua ( Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2021)
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