The Solar Analemma over Edmonton

The Solar Analemma over Edmonton
June 21, 2013 - June 2, 2014

If observed at the same time each day, in the course of a year, the Sun's position in the sky traces a figure-8 shaped curve called the "analemma". The analemma is produced by the combined effects of the Earth's tilted axis of rotation and its variation in speed along its elliptical orbit around the Sun. Over the year, the Earth's axial tilt shifts the Sun's position north/south and the Earth's elliptical orbit shifts it east/west. Solstices correspond to the top and bottom of the figure-8, indicating the northern and southernmost limits of the Sun in the sky. The cross-over point on the curve is around both April 12 and August 30 as the Sun's apparent position ascends and descends respectively. The analemma curve is also a graphical representation of the equation of time which describes the difference between sundial time (apparent solar time) and clock time (mean solar time).

My project to image the solar analemma with a digital camera had two objectives: (1) capture the figure-8 curve of the Sun's position over a year above an Edmonton foreground in a single composite image, and (2) capture the changes of the four seasons in Edmonton in a timelapse movie with the figure-8 evolving as the seasons progressed.

This is the timelapse movie illustrating the Sun's motion on the analemma curve, from June 21, 2013 to June 2, 2014. Each solar image was taken at 9:45 AM at St. George's Crescent in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The foreground images showing the changes of the four seasons were taken at the same location, some at 09:45 AM and others in the afternoon.

The movie is best viewed in full-screen HD with sound.

The composite image can be viewed at:

[MaximilianMedici]

Can't give this enough thumbs up. The analemma, a phenomenon which I thought I understood, but this visual illustration (not just a diagram, but actual real life photography) just makes it so much clearer and easier to understand. And kudos for the additional creative touch. Big thank you.

[nate.sacinfobros]

creative use of the Four Seasons, I dig it

[greentape]

Excellent timelapse! The scenery in the foreground really illustrates the time scale of the whole figure eight. Thank you!

[gregmckay]

Excellent job Luca. One of the best analemma's i've seen.

[bonnieuk]

I've been on this planet for 58 years and I only discovered 'analemma' yesterday on a random facebook post ... amazing. Still not entirely sure how it all works, but that's pretty cool :-) ... ( off to wikipedia I go to find out more)

[machninety]

Oddly enough, at first sight I was blown away and thought of Einstein’s Symbol ♾ which is infinity. Truly amazing

[AntolinEstevao]

Great job! I'm working on my own Analemma project.

[chartaiwan]

Thank you for making this video, really useful!

[declanjoyce]

Brilliant, thanks for taking the time to create this...

[rcroning]

Luca, This is an extremely well done animation and I got more of an appreciation for the project considering the time and effort that went into it. KUDOS!!! Ralph A. Croning, RASC Winnipeg Centre.

[KermisVoyager]

You gotta stay in one place for about a year to get the full picture. I lived in New Jersey for 3 years back in the day which was my chance to make a picture like this.

[Monstr]

You should do one for a 2-3 year time span and see if the location is different

[Dr_Hans_MTU]

I play this video for my Physical Geography students every semester.

[nnpeace]

thats how our earth spins on its own axis

[PupilasGustativas]

Great!.
Why some foreground images were taken at 9:45 and some in the afternoon?

[dougm]

So next on my watch shopping list is one which shows the equation of time, ie the daily variances between mean time and solar time....completely useless but quite fascinating as the analemma is a real world view of those differences!

[stevenreichertart]

Great analemma but the music is making me anxious.

[tomvrouvakis]

Great work. I want to ask you what software did you used in order to make this video and how did you manage to keep the previous sun's position in all the next frames? Thank you!

[ToniLixSim]

same place on different month but not real analemma sun place, the u take pic 2 3 hour after the son moves from there, but nice for them who see for first time analemma thing :P

[condorboss]

I grew up in Edmonton. The depressing thing is how much of the year ice covers the river.