Being somewhat pagan, we notice the equinoxes and celebrate the solstices.
Many of the streets around our house are set up exactly on the east-west line. Must have been very sober and precise surveyors in the 1860s.
On Saturday we jumped in our car just before sunset to try to find a spot to watch the sun go down over one of these streets. It was hard driving with the sun in our eyes, but we made it just in time to see the sun go down a few degrees north of the street.
So Sunday we were a little smarter. We left home earlier on our bicycles and made it to a bridge over the Mississippi, where the street is wide and there is no foliage to get in your sightline.
We stopped at the top of the bridge, left our bikes on the sidewalk and for the next ten minutes every time there was a break in the traffic, we would walk out to the center line of the bridge to see where the sun was in its trajectory.
It was crazy and it was great fun, and that darned sun set exactly in the middle of the street. Very cool! And rather amazing to remember that on Saturday the sun went down noticeably to the north. I guess that means that if we went to the same spot today to watch, the sun would set noticeably to the south of the street.
I hope everyone has a wonderful fall season. Mine sure started well.
You have to be careful that you are actually looking at the true horizon. Otherwise your alignment can get messed up by a day. Check out http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100321.html for more info.
ReplyDelete