Contains:  Solar system body or event
Snaky Sun, Wael Omar WO

Snaky Sun

Snaky Sun, Wael Omar WO

Snaky Sun

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Acquisition details

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Description

The inclination of the Earth's rotation axis causes the seasons and also the position of sunrise and sunset to change every day so the Sun rises due east and sets on due west only twice per year during the equinox but changes its position along the rest of the year.On 20th March,2024 the Earth's axis is tilted neither toward nor away from the sun, resulting in a "nearly" equal amount of daylight and darkness at all latitudes. I have photographed the sun for 12 months from a fixed place to monitor the path of the sun along the horizon. My first image was in April 2023 and I continue to shoot the sunset on the 21th day (± 2 days) of every month to show the drift of the sunset location. The image shows the summer solstice on 21st of June as the sun sets considerably north of due west. After the summer solstice, the sun's path gradually drifts southward. By 23rd of September, the sun is at equinox, its path is again along the celestial equator and the sun sets directly on due west. The southward drift then continues until the December solstice (22nd of December), when the sun sets considerably south of due west. After the December solstice, the sun's path drifts northward, returning to the celestial equator by the March equinox 20th of March 2024.The maximum angular distance between two sunsets is the angle between the two solstices. This angle changes with the latitude of the place. It is minimum at the equator and after that increases according to the absolute value of the latitude until it causes the midnight Sun in the polar area. In my location at "Mokattam" hills at latitude 30º 00´ 05´´ N the Sun sets in :
  • Summer solstice 21st June @297.9º  in 19:59 pm
  • Winter solstice 22nd December @243.2º in 17:00 pm.

So the maximum drift distance is 54.7 degrees. As I started from April and ended on March the sun drift looks like a snake in the sky 
Settings and equipment: Canon 200 D18-55 mm canon lens.
Each image is a 5-panel mosaic @18mm, each panel is HDR image with bracket shooting.
The settings of the images: ISO 100, 1/20 seconds, F8. This may differ a little due to different lighting conditions along the 6 months.
Date : 21 th (±2) of each month from April 2023 to March 2024.
All images are taken from fixed place along the 12 months.
Choosing the location was so difficult in a very crowded city like Cairo as I wanted to have a wide view of the city and in same time a fixed location not altered by crowd or civil works so I spent too much time to search for this place. The place was above “Mokattam” hills so I have to climb a little up to be in the right spot and facing the sun along its journey during the 12 months and I put marks on ground to get back to same spot each month.
Location:  Cairo, EGYPT.

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Snaky Sun, Wael Omar WO