Phenomena
& THE SHAPE OF THE ANALEMMA
The tilt of the axis
Have you ever looked at a rise and set time chart of the sun and noticed that in the summer the earliest sunrise and latest sunset do not occur on the longest day of the year? Or that in the winter the latest sunrise and earliest sunset do not occur on the shortest day of the year? This phenomenon is directly related to the shape of the analemma.
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ecleptic

Sungraph app available here.
The differences between the times of the solstices and rise and set times becomes more exaggerated the closer we are to the equator. In reverse, at either pole, the analemma has no effect on sunrise and sunset times.
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The movie below takes a small portion of the analemma curve around the time of the summer (June 21st) and winter (December 21st) solstices.
Move the movie slider by hand to see the significant events
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The effect of the analemma on sunrise and sunset time if you are standing at 42° North Latitude.
