Analemma

Most sundials mark solar time. The Woodland Polar Sundial shows standard time, on the hour. It converts solar time to standard time by means of analemmas which are constructed for each hour.

It is obvious that the sun appears to move in a north-south direction during the course of a year; it is low in the southern sky (for the Northern Hemisphere) in the winter and high in the summer. The position of the sun also moves side-to-side, along an east-west line , during the year. If you take a picture of the sun at the exact same point in the sky at an exact specific time, a time lapse montage over one year shows the sun traces a figure 8 in the sky. This path is an analemma.

To be continued …