Expand this Topic clickable element to expand a topic
Skip to content
Optica Publishing Group

Some elementary but surprising facts about the Sun’s path at sunset

Not Accessible

Your library or personal account may give you access

Abstract

For temperate latitudes, the assumed path of the Sun across the sky would suggest that the angle between the horizon and the Sun’s path at sunset would be much greater on the first day of summer when the Sun is high in the sky at noon than on the first day of winter when the Sun’s noon elevation is 47° lower. The angle that the Sun’s path makes with the horizon at sunset is, however, exactly the same on the first day of summer and the first day of winter—for any latitude. For 43° north latitude, although the range of angles over a year for the Sun’s noon elevation is 47°, the range of angles between the horizon and the Sun’s path at sunset is only 5°.

© 2015 Optical Society of America

Full Article  |  PDF Article
More Like This
Blue moons and Martian sunsets

Kurt Ehlers, Rajan Chakrabarty, and Hans Moosmüller
Appl. Opt. 53(9) 1808-1819 (2014)

Atmospheric phenomena before and during sunset

M. Menat
Appl. Opt. 19(20) 3458-3468 (1980)

Cited By

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Cited by links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Figures (3)

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Figure files are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Equations (12)

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Equations are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Select as filters


Select Topics Cancel
© Copyright 2024 | Optica Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved