Department of Physics

User's Guide to the Night Sky

The Sun's Track across the Sky at the Winter Solstice

The animation shows the daily track of the Sun across the sky at the time of the winter solstice as seen from Durham. The Sun rises in the south-east, crosses the meridian at about noon and sets in the south-west. From Durham at the winter solstice, the Sun reaches a maximum altitude of only 11.5°, i.e. (90° − 55° − 23.5°). The track of the Sun across the sky is the same as the Dec = −23.5° line.

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