Hello Bill:
By strange coincidence, I returned home just today after also being
"cast away" on a tropical island, Kaua'i. I spent the entire week there
studying the sun closely (through the back of my eyelids) and splashing in
the waves, where the surf stole my watch off my arm, leaving me in a
situation much like that of your hero Tom Hanks, telling time only by the
position of the sun. I read your email concerning the analemma and of
course I now feel eminently qualified to respond!
Alas, I found that without my watch I was unable to recreate an accurate
analemma, at least not within a week's course of time. But perhaps if I
could obtain federal funding to further study this over the course of a year
I could better test the possibility! Better yet, four years, so I can
include the effect of the leap year!
Pete S.
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
home: http://netnow.micron.net/~petes
----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, January 01, 2001 5:59 PM
Subject: Cast Away
> 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).
>
