The Path of the Sun

Hi there Suradi - thanks for your question. According to the Museum's Planetarium Presenters, these days a Sun Path can be got using any good astronomy program or planetarium software such as Starry Night or Stellarium. Please note, if you would like to use our diagram for anything other than private use then MV copyright acknowledgement would be expected.

Hi Mel, the Tropic of Capricorn is technically an infinitesimally thin line, although the uncertainty in the measurement of the Earth's obliquity corresponds to an error in positioning of the Tropic of about 3cm. We can't locate the Tropic any better than this, so this is a kind of width.
 
At the moment the Tropic is at 23°26'16.7" S. But the obliquity of the Earth varies and is decreasing around a half a second of arc per year, so the Tropic is moving slowly northwards at the same rate. This corresponds to something like 13m per year. So depending on what kind a timeframe you want to look at this also puts limits on how precisely you can locate the tropic. Within a decade, for example, we can't locate the Tropic more precisely than a 133m band.

Hi, Fernando. The "Time and Date" website gives information about the length of days for several locations in regional Victoria, including Ballarat. Hope this helps!

Hi Matt,

For advice about seating, you would probably be best to check with MCG staff directly - MCG contact details can be found here.

Hi Muhamad - If you have a look at the first couple of comments, you'll find our recommendations for programs that can be used to generate sun paths.

Hi Georgina - Several factors effect sunrise and set times, such as surrounding buildings or mountains, elevation above sea level, etc; however the main reason in this case is because Sydney is much further east than Melbourne, by approximately 700 km.

Hope that helps

Hi M G, there are quite a number of web sites that display this information. This site does give you the option of setting your own times, and also has a lot of other good information.   

Hi Steve - Earth orbits the sun. The Southern Cross never disappears below the horizon when viewed from Southern Australia. It never sets below the horizon, but traces a circle in the sky. The position of the sun relative to the South Celestial Pole isn't a relevant factor, what is relevant is that the Southern Cross is close to the South Celestial Pole from our vantage point, and is therefore visible from Southern Australia. Obviously it is not visible to our eyes during the day time, as daylight from the sun makes it diffult to see the constellations, however it is still there.

Hello Steve

The link to this section of the NASA website  gives a brief insight to the history of the evolution of the theory of the planets movement around the sun.

Hi Steve - The Sun is at the centre of our Solar System, and all planets revolve about the Sun.  The Sun at the centre of our Solar System, is in our galaxy called the Milky Way Galaxy amongst about 400 billion other stars.  All the stars that can be seen with the naked eye are in our galaxy. It's important to remember at this point that our sun is not at the centre of the galaxy.

Because we revolve about the Sun, which is very close to us, all the other stars which are much further away, do not appear to move as we move around the Sun.  So the constellations, such as The Southern Cross, look the same wherever we are.  As the axis of the Earth is tilted, the south pole axis points towards the Southern Cross, so that constellation is always visible in the lower latitudes such as Victoria.

Hope that helps

Steve,

Try to think of it this way - If you were “on” the Southern Cross and looked towards Earth with a theoretical, highly powerful telescope, then Melbourne would always be visible, because the bottom of the Earth is pointing towards the Southern Cross.  As the Earth spins on its axis, Melbourne would appear to rotate around the globe.  As go further north from Melbourne, say to Sydney, then as the Earth spins, an observer on the Southern Cross would see Sydney disappear briefly on each rotation.  The further you travel north the less time you will be able to see the Southern Cross, until you can never see the Southern Cross.

It is like that the Sun is at the centre of a globe of stars, and the Earth always points to one spot in the sky which is close to the Southern Cross.  In reality this is not so, but the concept is true.

I hope this may clarify it a bit more for you.

Hi Casper, the Sun’s path is at its lowest in the sky on the  Winter Solstice – 21st June, see here for more information.

Hi John,
There are two websites that may help you determine the angle of the sun at your house on a particular date. The Rise and Set Times on the Planetarium website provides a calendar for the visibility of the sun in Melbourne. There is also an online resource about how to make your own Sun Angle Calculator.

Hi Jim, if you were at one of the poles during a summer equinox the Sun continues to make a circle in the sky, but now it would dip below the horizon for a while. It may appear to be an ellipse, but in actual fact it is still a circle. This YouTube clip, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZcafg-meJA shows what it would look like a little further away from the pole. This web link may also be helpful.