It’s
almost St. Patrick’s Day and may the Sun shine warm upon your face … so that you
know what direction you’re facing!
Directions
from the Sun
Everywhere
in the world the Sun rises in the east and in the evening, it sets in the
west. On the winter solstice (December
21st), it rises at 23° 27′ south of east and on the summer solstice
it rises at 23° 27′ north of east (June 21st); only rising due east and
setting due west on the spring (March 21st) and autumn equinoxes (September
23rd).
You
can find your direction from the Sun’s position at any time of the day, besides
just in the early morning and early evening.
The
position of the Sun in the sky can be used for orientation if you know the
general time of day. In the morning, the
Sun rises roughly in the east (due east only on the equinoxes) and tracks
southward in the northern hemisphere, or northward in the southern hemisphere,
before setting in the west (again due west only on the equinoxes). At noon, when you face the Sun, you are
looking either south or north depending on whether you are above or below the Equator.
When
the Sun has reached its highest point in the sky, at solar noon, and it is directly
overhead, it is at its zenith. In the North
Temperate Zones, anywhere between the Arctic Circle at 66° 33′ N and the Tropic
of Cancer at 23° 27′ N, the path of the Sun is
south of the zenith in the winter and almost overhead during the summer. At solar noon, during the winter if you face
the Sun, you face south.
In
the South Temperate Zone, between the Tropic of Capricorn at 23° 27′ S and the
Antarctic Circle at 66° 33′ S, the situation is reversed, with the path of the Sun
is north of the zenith in the winter and almost overhead during the summer. At solar noon, during the winter if you are
facing the Sun, you are facing north.
And
in the tropics, the Torrid Zone, the noon Sun will either east or west of you,
or directly overhead, depending on the season and the date.
And
now for the rest of the prayer.
Happy
St. Patrick’s Day!
Don’t forget to come back next week and read “Ten Essentials of Winter
Camping ©”, where we will talk about how to camp in the winter wilderness and
stay warm and safe.
I
hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me
on YouTube at BandanaMan Productions for other related videos, HERE. Don’t forget to follow me on both The
Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE,
and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube. If you have questions, as always, feel free
to leave a comment on either site. I
announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at
bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.
That
is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!
Sources
Buzzacott, Francis Henry; The Complete American and
Canadian Sportsman's Encyclopedia of Valuable Instruction,
[The American and Canadian Sportsman’s Assn., Chicago IL, 1905], https://books.google.com/books?id=mFcCAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Complete+American+and+Canadian&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjEp-_Vt4OMAxX6MlkFHdGlDswQ6AF6BAgJEAM#v=onepage&q=The%20Complete%20American%20and%20Canadian&f=false,
accessed March 11, 2025
Gibson,
J.; Soldiers’ Own Note Book and Diary For 1918, [Charles Letts &
Co., London, 1918], page 30, http://heritage.christchurchcitylibraries.com/Archives/OSullivan/Clutterbuck/Diary/PDF/0050.pdf,
accessed
March 13, 2025
Oelslager, Dr. R. W.,
Bushcraft, Scoutcraft & Woodlore, Vol. II, Figure 186, [privately
published] page 210 to 211, this volume can be found HERE.
Tarr, Ralph Stockman; New
Geographies: First book, Book 1, Part 2, [The Macmillan Company, New York
1913], page 91 to 92, https://books.google.com/books?id=5VMAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA92&dq=winter,+the+sun+will+be+south+of+you&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi7vPqxoYyMAxWgrokEHfbgN0IQ6AF6BAgIEAM#v=onepage&q=winter%2C%20the%20sun%20will%20be%20south%20of%20you&f=false,
accessed March 15, 2025
United States, Department
of the Air Force; Survival
AFM 64-65, August 15, 1969, [U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington
DC], page 2-87, https://books.google.com/books?id=RX24AAAAIAAJ&pg=SA2-PA87&dq=%22Figure+2-56%22+equinoxes&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjC08jb0ImMAxXypokEHauYKp4Q6AF6BAgFEAM#v=onepage&q=%22Figure%202-56%22%20equinoxes&f=false,
accessed March 14, 2025
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