Thread: Sunrise Summer Solstice, Sunrise Winter Solstice.

Degree of arc at horizon points. 6/7 days to Melbournes Winter Solstice. ( 21/22 June,2012. ), minimum daylight hours. Summer Solstice, 21/22 December 2012. Maximum daylight hours. I am not a Maths man, so I have tried to estimate the degree of arc, measured at my horizon view here in Melbourne Australia. I have estimated it to be approx. 47 degree between sunrise points, winter Solstice and Summer Solstice. Will some Member please advise me how to run a conformation or otherwise check on my estimate. Westwind.

The math is pretty complicated, so I used SkyMap Pro, which has superb astronomical math included.

Winter solstice sunrise is at 60 1/2 degrees azimuth and sunrise to sunset is 9:35 (HH:MM)

Summer solstice is at 120 1/2 degrees azimuth and daylight hours are 14:45

So there's a 60 degree azimuth difference between the solstices.

Thanks MW. Larger arc then I thought. It's no wonder that I'm freezing to death down here, the winds are coming up from Antartica, they whip around the West Coast of Tasmania and straight into Melbourne. westwind.

The Earth's axial tilt = 23.45'
therefore the degree of arc = 46.9'

Simple maths, Happy Age of Aquarius ((* I'm nearly 47