This Is How The Sun Moves In The Sky Throughout The Year
“It’s easy to see that the topmost point corresponds to the summer solstice, while the lowest point corresponds to the winter solstice, but there is no special astronomical significance to the “crossing-point” in the Sun’s analemma as seen from Earth. Occurring approximately on April 14th and August 30th, those dates are only determined by the way our seasons, determined by axial tilt, align with our planet’s orbit around the Sun.
If our perihelion and aphelion were aligned with the equinoxes, rather than the solstices, we’d have a teardrop-shaped analemma, rather than a figure-8, which is how the Sun appears from Mars! The analemma is the beautiful, natural shape traced out by the Sun over time, creating a figure-8 as both our orbit and axial tilt dictate. Enjoy the Sun’s motion through our skies, as its unique cosmic pirouette is due to our planet’s one-of-a-kind motion through space!”
You might notice that the Sun is changing its position in the sky, while sunset and sunrise times also change. But did you know that you’d get this bizarre, pinched, figure-8-like shape if you took a picture of the Sun every day throughout the year at 24-hour intervals? It’s true! The shape is known as Earth’s analemma, and it’s determined by a variety of factors that you must consider all of in order to get the explanation right.
