thesunproject:

Mounting Your Solargraph Camera - Some Tips

The solstice is upon us! Well, as we publish this video anyway. With the Sun at its peak in the Northern Hemisphere (minimum in the Southern), now is the prime time start your solargraph.

New to the Sun Project and need details on what it’s all about? Look here. 

Want to build your own solargraph camera and join in? Even if you miss the solstice, you can start any time, don’t worry! Check here for our how-to video and build your own.

We want to get cameras on every continent, so get going! Anyone have a friend in Antarctica?

-Joe

Here I am on a blazing hot roof in the Austin summer sun with some seriously high winds, giving some tips on how to mount a solargraph camera.

It’s the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the Sun is at it’s highest point. That means today’s the best day to start a solargraph.

If you’d like to be a part of our global project, it’s not to late to start! Check the links above for more.

And seriously, anyone have a friend in Antarctica?

thesunproject: The June Solstice Approacheth! There’s no mystical occurrences happening on June 20 (at 23:09 UTC, to be exact), but this is a key point in the Earth’s path around the Sun. It’s also the best day to mount your solargraphs to get solstice-to-solstice images. Don’t worry if you don’t get them up by Wednesday, you’ll still get great pictures no matter what. What is the June Solstice? Due to the axial tilt of the Earth, the June solstice marks the point in Earth’s orbit when the Sun reaches its highest maximum point in the sky in the Northern Hemisphere, and the opposite in the Southern Hemisphere. The sun will appear straight overhead along the Tropic of Cancer, but nowhere else (despite some commonly held beliefs). Ancient cultures gave the day much spiritual significance, but today it’s just the beginning of summer (or winter, if you live in the Southern Hemisphere). Good luck getting those cameras up this week! Keep spreading the word so we can get every continent represented, and here’s our how-to video on building a pinhole cam.
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thesunproject:

The June Solstice Approacheth!

There’s no mystical occurrences happening on June 20 (at 23:09 UTC, to be exact), but this is a key point in the Earth’s path around the Sun. It’s also the best day to mount your solargraphs to get solstice-to-solstice images. Don’t worry if you don’t get them up by Wednesday, you’ll still get great pictures no matter what.

What is the June Solstice?

Due to the axial tilt of the Earth, the June solstice marks the point in Earth’s orbit when the Sun reaches its highest maximum point in the sky in the Northern Hemisphere, and the opposite in the Southern Hemisphere. The sun will appear straight overhead along the Tropic of Cancer, but nowhere else (despite some commonly held beliefs). Ancient cultures gave the day much spiritual significance, but today it’s just the beginning of summer (or winter, if you live in the Southern Hemisphere).

Good luck getting those cameras up this week! Keep spreading the word so we can get every continent represented, and here’s our how-to video on building a pinhole cam.

kidsneedscience: Both the first day of winter and the shortest day of the year began early this morning, the morning of the winter solstice.  The word solstice is relatively old in English, dating back to the 13th century.  Solstice derives from the Latin word solstitium meaning very literally the point at which the sun stands still, a combination of the words sol meaning sun and the past participial stem of sistere meaning to come to a stop, make stand still.  Celebrated thoughout history as either a secular or religious day, the solstice marks the point on the ecliptic when the Northern Hemisphere is pointed most away from the sun and therefore has the shortest day.  Image of solstices and equinoxes courtesy NASA.  Meme of ‘axial tilt’ authorship unknown. Today’s post is for my B.  Happy First Day of Winter, B!
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kidsneedscience: Both the first day of winter and the shortest day of the year began early this morning, the morning of the winter solstice.  The word solstice is relatively old in English, dating back to the 13th century.  Solstice derives from the Latin word solstitium meaning very literally the point at which the sun stands still, a combination of the words sol meaning sun and the past participial stem of sistere meaning to come to a stop, make stand still.  Celebrated thoughout history as either a secular or religious day, the solstice marks the point on the ecliptic when the Northern Hemisphere is pointed most away from the sun and therefore has the shortest day.  Image of solstices and equinoxes courtesy NASA.  Meme of ‘axial tilt’ authorship unknown. Today’s post is for my B.  Happy First Day of Winter, B!
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kidsneedscience:

Both the first day of winter and the shortest day of the year began early this morning, the morning of the winter solstice.  The word solstice is relatively old in English, dating back to the 13th century.  Solstice derives from the Latin word solstitium meaning very literally the point at which the sun stands still, a combination of the words sol meaning sun and the past participial stem of sistere meaning to come to a stop, make stand still.  Celebrated thoughout history as either a secular or religious day, the solstice marks the point on the ecliptic when the Northern Hemisphere is pointed most away from the sun and therefore has the shortest day. 

Image of solstices and equinoxes courtesy NASA.  Meme of ‘axial tilt’ authorship unknown.

Today’s post is for my B.  Happy First Day of Winter, B!

For those of you in the Northern Hemisphere, today is your winter solstice!  For those in the South, it’s just the opposite, the summer solstice.  Scientifically speaking, the winter solstice is where the axis of the Earth on your end of the globe is at its furthest point from the Sun.  This results in the shortest day of the year, and in some areas no daylight at all. When is the sun setting where you live?  Check out this calculator to find out (I’ll have sun until 5:35 PM, personally!) If it’s summer for you and you’d like to rub it in for the winter folks, feel free!  Doing anything to celebrate the solstice?
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For those of you in the Northern Hemisphere, today is your winter solstice!  For those in the South, it’s just the opposite, the summer solstice.  Scientifically speaking, the winter solstice is where the axis of the Earth on your end of the globe is at its furthest point from the Sun.  This results in the shortest day of the year, and in some areas no daylight at all.

When is the sun setting where you live?  Check out this calculator to find out (I’ll have sun until 5:35 PM, personally!) If it’s summer for you and you’d like to rub it in for the winter folks, feel free!  Doing anything to celebrate the solstice?