The Analemma Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

RedHiker: Archiving this cache as there has been no response and/or no update and it has been unavailable for a while now.

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RedHiker
Volunteer Reviewer Northern California

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Hidden : 11/26/2008
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:


There is a sundial near here known as an "analemmatic sundial". The "analemma" is the "figure 8" in the centre which marks the apparent motion of the Sun during the course of the year. Each letter on the analemma is the first letter of each month. You stand on the letter for the current month and your shadow should point to the time of the day. Try it and see. You will need to adjust the time ahead one hour during day-light saving time in the summer.

The north-south passage of the Sun during the year is the reason for the north-south extent of the dateline and of the analemma. This apparent motion of the Sun is caused by the Earth's axis being tilted at 23.46 degrees to the plane of its orbit around the Sun. This means that on December 21 the Sun will appear to be almost 47 degrees closer to the horizon at midday than on June 21.

There are two reasons why the Sun wanders off to one side and then the other of the dateline, to produce the figure 8:

· Firstly, the orbit of the Earth around the Sun is not circular but slightly elliptical, or egg-shaped. On July 4 or 5 the Earth is at its furthest from the Sun, and moving slowest. It then starts to speed up slightly as it moves closer to the Sun, and once past its point of closest approach in January 2 or 3 it starts to slow down again. The speeding up and slowing down of the Earth in its orbit means that the time measured from the Sun's position can be a little early or late compared to Standard Time, the steady rate at which our clocks run.

· Secondly, the tilt of the Earth's axis to the plane of its orbit around the Sun also causes the Sun to appear to be early or late. The Sun and planets follow a path across the sky called the Ecliptic. Because of the tilt of the Earth's axis, the ecliptic is tilted at 23.46 degrees to the Celestial equator. The effect of this tilt is to produce an apparent slowing down and speeding up of the Sun as it moves along the ecliptic.

There are many interesting web-sites with more information about many other types of sundials. Google it! The info. I used for this cache description came from www.hartrao.ac.za/other/sundial/sundial.html and a few others.

Please use stealth as this can be a muggle rich environment.

Enjoy the area, there is a lot to see around here, as well as a few other caches to find. Happy exploring….

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

cyrnfr eruvqr pnershyyl

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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