Sun Shadow Applet

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Sun Shadow Applet

More details: "Azimuth and Elevation Diagrams"

Sun Azimuth at Rise and Set

This interactive applet displays the shadow of an object (building, wall, tree) for any location, date and time.
Select your location from the menu list, or enter the coordinates (decimal degrees) for the latitude, and press RETURN, and for the longitude, and press RETURN:

The applet will adjust the timezone. As there are no definite rules for daylight saving time, check the time offset to get the correct local times.

Press RETURN after entering the object height.

You may use the keys "m", "d", "h", "n" to increase the month, date, hour, or minute,or Shift key and "m", "d", "h", "n" to decrease the month, date, hour, or minute!

Uncheck the "Trace" box to display a single shadow only.

Comparing the applet results to those of USNO there are slight differences for small altitudes, which are due to the fact that USNO is taking into account the atmospheric refraction (relevant for very small altitudes only).

U.S. Naval Observatory,
Astronomical Applications

Choose from the "Write..." menu to get a table of elevation and azimuth angles:

azimuth elevation shadow

Press the "Get Time" button and enter the elevation angle of the Sun, or the length of the gnomon shadow, or the azimuth angle and hit RETURN to get the times.

This item is not yet working properly for latitudes near the equator, sorry.

How to get this applet

The length and the direction of the shadow depend on the elevation (altitude) and azimuth angle of the sun:

In nautics, the azimuth is measured eastwards from the North point, in astronomy westwards from the South point.

Object height is 10 m, elevation angle is 27°, sun azimuth angle is 270°:

Object height is 20 m, elevation angle is 27°, sun azimuth angle is 270°:

Example:

Berlin, July 5, from 6:00 to 20:00

Running the applet hit the "h" key to increase the hour !

Watch animation

Some more details on my Sundial Page

Azimuth angle of the Sun
Berlin (51.51°N, 13.41°E) on 2006, June 21
northern summer solstice

Azimuth angle of the Sun
23.5°N, 13.41°E on 2006, June 21
northern summer solstice

Azimuth angle of the Sun
51.51°S, 13.41°E on 2006, Dec 21
southern summer solstice

Azimuth angle of the Sun
0°N, 13.41°E on 2006, Jun 21

Azimuth angle of the Sun
0°N, 13.41°E on 2006, Sep 23
exinox

Please visit my GeoAstro Applet Collection

Last modified: 2010, Mar 26

This interactive applet displays the shadow of an object (building, wall, tree) for any location, date and time. Select your location from the menu list, or enter the coordinates (decimal degrees) for the latitude, and press RETURN, and for the longitude, and press RETURN: The applet will adjust the timezone. As there are no definite rules for daylight saving time, check the time offset to get the correct local times. Press RETURN after entering the object height.
	You may use the keys "m", "d", "h", "n" to increase the month, date, hour, or minute,or Shift key and "m", "d", "h", "n" to decrease the month, date, hour, or minute!
	Uncheck the "Trace" box to display a single shadow only.