11 Jul
2008
11 Jul
'08
7:27 a.m.
I have a question in celestial geometry whose answer is surely well-known -- but not to me. Do any of you know this? I want to know the function whose inputs are my latitude on the earth (eg 0=equator, +-90=poles) and the latitude the sun is over today (0 on equinox, +-23.5 on the solstices), and whose output is what direction I need to look in to see the sun at sunrise/sunset (0=due east/west, -90=due south -- which would be the case if it's the winter solstice and I'm at the arctic circle). Surely all almanac-writers have a button on their pocket calculators which does this... --Michael Kleber -- It is very dark and after 2000. If you continue you are likely to be eaten by a bleen.