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Old 12-12-2009, 06:15 PM   #23
Jnana
Avalon Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Indiana
Posts: 653
Default Re: Canada's Inuit notice the Sun is not where it should be.

The earth axis tilt is 23.44 degrees. The latitude at my house is 39.1 degrees. At the winter solstice at noon, this makes the angle of the sun from 62.54 degrees from vertical or 27.46 degrees above the horizon.

With a level, a protractor, and a nail (to create a shadow) I measured the angle of the sun from vertical at approximately 63 degrees, or 27 degrees above the horizon, today at 1:00 PM. The sun would have been at its highest point today at 12:39, so I was a little off. Also, my instrumentation is pretty crude and probably only good for +/- 1 degree, and it is not quite the winter solstice.

In any case, the measurement is quite close to the expected value.
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