At 15:46 22-08-96 -0700, you wrote:
>Slawek Grzechnik ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote:
>
>> I think that sundials for the new Millenium should be set on the poles.
>> Imagine how simple the dial and the style would be. Each of them would be
>> working half a year....
>
>
>A dial at the South Pole *almost* exists.
>
>About 18 months ago I corresponded with Bob Loewenstein, of the University
>of Chicago's Center for Astrophysics in Antarctica (CARA), querying him
>about the "ceremonial" South Pole marker: a barber-pole-like structure
>surmounted by a small reflective dome. Encircling it, at a few-meters
>radius, are the national flags of the researchers encamped at Amundsen-Scott
>South Pole Station. (To see a photo, check out _Sky and Telescope_,
>December, 1982, page 520.)
>
>I was curious to learn if someone had already thought to space the flags at
>15-degree intervals, and to offset them so they'll function as hour markers
>for a particular time zone -- hence creating a horizontal/equatorial sundial
>(and the only one of its kind simultaneously in both categories). Bob
>replied that nobody had seen fit to set up the flags with a sundial in mind.
>(Though, I was hoping my question would inspire this simple modification
>when Bob departed for his next several-month stint there.) Bob did point
>out, however, that most of the researchers quickly learned how to tell time
>by noting the Sun's azimuth.
>
>Here's an interesting trivia question: What is the adopted time zone at
>the South Pole Station? Since they could choose any time zone they like,
>I assumed they'd use Universal Time -- but this turns out not to be the case.
>In fact, they use the same time zone as New Zealand -- even mimicking the
>Kiwis' habit of changing from/to Summer Time (which is odd, since polar
>residents don't derive any benefit from time shifting when the sun is
>perpetually above the horizon in the austral Summer). The rationale for
>this is logistical: South Pole Station is serviced regularly by a support
>crew flying out of Christchurch, New Zealand; by keeping New Zealand time,
>there's no risk of time-conversion errors resulting in a missed rendezvous
>or communication.
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Mark Gingrich [EMAIL PROTECTED] San Leandro, California
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
A few months ago I was involved in a KIDLINK project with a school in
Delmam, Marylamd U.S.A. where a few childeren had to make a sundial for
McMurdo base on the Antartic. I designed a analemmatic sundial for 90S which
will be a circle with every 15degr. a marker. This was easy to explain and
understand by the childeren. The shadow of a person standing in the centre
was used to read the time.
As McMurdo station is actually located at 78S I also calculated the
differences between the designed sundial and a proper calculated analemmatic
sundial at 78S. The maximum differences in angular measurements were 1
degree and in placement of the markers a maximum of 56 millimeters occured.
As these differences were so small I declared the simple sundial designed
for the South Pole at 90S valid for McMurdo staion at 78S.
I don't know whether the sundial is ever made. I don't think so because it
is now winter and hardly any sun at McMurdo.
Thibaud Taudin-Chabot <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
