Bill,
At the risk of exposing my ignorance, I guess I'll ask for some more
help. If my plane goes down in the south Pacific, I float around for
some time in a raft, and then live for a couple of years in a cave
which boasts a thin beam of sunlight, how, even with a working watch,
would I draw an accurate analemma?
Best wishes,
Mac
P.S. I believe I would know how to find a meridian line and thus mark
local solar noon without a working watch or any equipment other than
what might be found on a deserted island.
You wrote:
I saw "Cast Away" last week, and had a question about sudials and the movie.
After Tom Hanks has spent several years on a desolate island, he constructs
an impressive analemma from a thin beam of light that enters his cave,
complete with days of the months. This would not be hard, if he had a
working watch, but I don't think he did. So, my question is, is this just
Hollywood chicanery, or is it really a possible thing to do? Bill G. (I
need to know, in case my plane goes down in the south Pacific some day).
