My oldest grandson needed a project for showing the altitude of the Sun, via the shadow. I made my simple solar device in my back yard, and my grandson, fabricated his device near Myrtle Beach. We compared views fairly often, and discussed our results. A fun project for the both of us.

I made the following photos today, at 12:00 noon (December 21st 2022) EST.

The (Blue Mark) represents the Sun Shadow (Today) at “precisely” 12:00 Noon EST, December 21st. At “almost” the end of the scale, which represents the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. A very long shadow for sure!

The (Green Mark) at the (inch-mark #9) was made on the the first day of Fall (September 22nd).

The (White Mark) at the (#2 inch-mark) represents the shadow on the first day of Summer (June 21st) and the longest day of 2022. A very short shadow! This would conclude that the sun is never “perfectly” overhead.

The scale on the ground is perfectly level, and facing North. The shadow post is at 90º.

Nova Sophia (Sophie) looks on with interest…

January 26th 2023 @ 12:00 PM EST: My first photo of the suns shadow which shows the shadow getting shorter.

See photos below: Note the longest shadow, the blue mark, which was made on the first day of Winter, the shortest day of the year.

During DST, the time to measure the shadow should be made at 1:00 PM. During EST, the shadow measurement should be made at 12:00 Noon.

Since the introduction of the “Pocket Sky Atlas” so many years ago, I have found without exception…this atlas has served me very well.

Easy to use in the dark, and I can use the larger or smaller version equally well. However, I mostly use the smaller edition. I have different ring(s) for each version and to match different finders.

However, as of recent, I’m using my GoTo mount most of the time. Being the purist amateur, never would I have thought after 40 plus years of observing, I would be using a GoTo mount….now most of the time.

No need for an atlas with the following mount. 🙂