Posted on 03/20/2016 4:13:32 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Explanation: What's that at the end of the road? The Sun. Many towns have roads that run east - west, and on two days each year, the Sun rises and sets right down the middle. Today is one of those days: an equinox. Not only is today a day of equal night (("aequus"-"nox") and day time, but also a day when the sun rises precisely to the east and sets due west. Featured here is a picturesque road in northwest Illinois, USA that runs approximately east -west. The image was taken one year ago today, during the March Equinox of 2 west? Tonight at sunset, with a quick glance, you can actually find out.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Credit and Copyright: Roland Christen]
BEAUTIFUL shot !
Only about 93 million more miles to go on that lonely road to reach the Sun. But if you could get your car to travel at light speed (186,000 miles per second) you can get there as soon as 8 minutes! :)
Strange how celestial objects appear much larger near the horizon than when they are high in the sky. Experts say it’s an illusion. Because if you measured the size/width of the Sun or Moon with a precise measuring device when they are low in the sky vs high above, they would have the same apparent diameter. They claim it has something to do with “perspective” —having nearby earth objects (buildings, trees, etc) in the immediate foreground.
Thousands of years from now some historians will wonder about Stonehedge Road and it’s mystical meaning.
To the people of the present it was a big annoyance and they would chant in unison “What fool built this road to point into the setting sun!”
But the Sun only sets precisely there twice a year. Any road roughly pointing east-west will have the Sun setting (and rising) directly down it at some point in the year.
During the course of a year the Sun sets (and rises) within a range of about 23 degrees north and south of due east-west. During the spring and fall equinoxes, it rises and sets precisely east and west. The northern most extent (Sun highest in the sky) is summer. Southern most extent (Sun lowest in the sky), winter. I think I got this right.(?)
If you are going to use science to explain things then you are a heretic! : )
You’re pretty much right, although the north-south deviation you describe varies with the latitude, becoming more pronounced as you approach the poles and less so (zero, in fact) at the equator.
And while the sun only rises and sets exactly on the east-west line twice a year, its variation on any given day is pretty slight. So it may not be directly in your eyes, but it’s pretty close.
A paper clip works well.
Correct on both. Thanks for clarifying.
Bizarre coincidence, that at this point in time, both the Sun and Moon appear to have very nearly the same angular diameter: one half of a degree. Meanwhile, the Sun is about 92.5 million miles away. The Moon, only about 240,000.
How many people will be standing in the road today taking a selfie of themselves, a setting sun, and an approaching Mack truck?
...they say we are ever so slowly losing the Moon. It is drifting away at the rate of about 2 inches a year. The Moon is very important to life on Earth, as it helps maintain our 23.5-degree rotational axis tilt. Once the Moon drifts far enough away, the Earth will begin to wobble uncontrollably and climate zones will shift dramatically. :0!
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