At 10:40 PM 12/20/96 -0800, you wrote: >I am in desperate need of the answer to this question: how much does the >sun's position vary around the solstice? Will I be able to see >solstice-linked events a few days around the winter solstice?
Hi Jordan, As you may well know, the position of the sun is a function of it's declination. Declination is measured in degrees both north and south of the celestial equator. At the winter solstice, the sun reaches maximum negative (southernmost) declination. On the days just before and right after the solstice, the sun is changing position very slowly as indicated by these numbers: Date Declination Dec 19 -23.423 deg Dec 20 -23.434 deg Dec 21 -23.437 deg (winter solstice = max negative declination) Dec 22 -23.432 deg Dec 23 -23.419 deg As you can see, the change in declination between Dec 21 and Dec 22 is only 0.005 deg (5/1000ths of a degree). The sun is about half a degree in diameter, so you can see the change in the sun's position between these two dates is insignificant for your purposes. Providing the weather doesn't thwart you, you will be able to make your observation on the 22nd with no discernable difference from the day before; the actual day of the solstice. If you get to see what you want to see, how about posting a short report of your observations to this mailing list. I'd like to know more about what you are talking about and I'm sure others on this list would be interested too. Charles **************************************** * Sundials and The Author * * http://www.geocities.com/athens/1012 * ****************************************
