Directions: Use the information provided and your knowledge of Earth and Space Sciences to answer the following questions. Show all work where necessary.
Directions: Use the information provided and your knowledge of Earth and Space Sciences to answer the following questions. Show all work where necessary.
On any given day, the sun moves through our sky in the same way as a star. It rises somewhere along the eastern horizon and sets somewhere in the west. If you live at a mid-northern latitude (most of North America, Europe, Asia, and northern Africa), you always see the noon sun somewhere in the southern sky.
But as the weeks and months pass, you'll notice that the sun's motion isn't quite the same as that of any star. For one thing, the sun takes a full 24 hours to make a complete circle around the celestial sphere, instead of just 23 hours, 56 minutes. For obvious reasons, we define our day based on the motion of the sun, not the stars. Moreover, the location of the sun's path across the sky varies with the seasons.
Figure 1.
Source: https://www.katrinaaxford.com/the-world-map.html
The sun appears to move along with the celestial sphere on any given day, but follows different circles at different times of the year: most northerly at the June solstice and most southerly at the December solstice. At the equinoxes, the sun's path follows the celestial equator.
You may have noticed two special lines of latitude on a globe of the world: One in the Northern Hemisphere called the Tropic of Cancer at
Explain why the Sun appears to move east to west across the sky each day.
In New York State, the Sun never appears directly overhead. Based on latitude (about 42
At which latitude would the Sun appear directly overhead at noon on the June solstice?
Describe how the Sun’s daily path changes between the June solstice, equinoxes, and December solstice for an observer in the Northern Hemisphere.
Which of the following statements about solar motion is true for an observer in mid-northern latitudes?
Explain why solar noon occurs at different times for observers in different longitudes, even if they share the same latitude.
Respond to the student’s claim: A classmate in New York says the Sun appears directly overhead at noon.
Explain how understanding the Sun’s apparent motion can help in designing solar panels for maximum efficiency.