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The Sun's path affects the length of daytime experienced and amount of daylight received along a certain latitude during a given season. The relative position of the Sun is a major factor in the heat gain of buildings and in the performance of solar energy systems. [1] Accurate location-specific knowledge of sun path and climatic conditions is ...
There are several conventions for the solar azimuth; however, it is traditionally defined as the angle between a line due south and the shadow cast by a vertical rod on Earth. This convention states the angle is positive if the shadow is east of south and negative if it is west of south. [1] [2] For example, due east would be 90° and due west ...
In this scheme, clockwise from north at 90° intervals one encounters west, south, and east, and the direction of solar rotation is from east to west. Heliographic. Heliographic coordinate systems are used to identify locations on the Sun's surface. The two most commonly used systems are the Stonyhurst and Carrington systems.
Earth orbit (yellow) compared to a circle (gray) Earth orbits the Sun at an average distance of 149.60 million km (8.317 light minutes, 92.96 million mi) [1] in a counterclockwise direction as viewed from above the Northern Hemisphere. One complete orbit takes 365.256 days (1 sidereal year ), during which time Earth has traveled 940 million km ...
The north–south component of the analemma results from the change in the Sun's declination due to the tilt of Earth's axis of rotation as it orbits around the Sun. The east–west component results from the nonuniform rate of change of the Sun's right ascension, governed by the combined effects of Earth's axial tilt and its orbital eccentricity.
Solar rotation varies with latitude. The Sun is not a solid body, but is composed of a gaseous plasma. Different latitudes rotate at different periods. The source of this differential rotation is an area of current research in solar astronomy. [1] The rate of surface rotation is observed to be the fastest at the equator (latitude φ = 0°) and ...
The ecliptic or ecliptic plane is the orbital plane of Earth around the Sun. [1] [2] [a] From the perspective of an observer on Earth, the Sun's movement around the celestial sphere over the course of a year traces out a path along the ecliptic against the background of stars. [3] The ecliptic is an important reference plane and is the basis of ...
The rotational axis of Earth, for example, is the imaginary line that passes through both the North Pole and South Pole, whereas the Earth's orbital axis is the line perpendicular to the imaginary plane through which the Earth moves as it revolves around the Sun; the Earth's obliquity or axial tilt is the angle between these two lines.