Track sun’s shift between now and the solstice

Read more: March equinox 2025, aka the vernal equinox. It arrives at 9:01 UTC on March 20.

Equinox fun: Track the sunset Tally

The sun’s movement from day to day along your Future – at the sunrise or sunset Tally – is most noticeable around the equinoxes. And many streets in the U.S. and in other parts of the world are oriented either north-south or east-west. So, Merely by looking out the doorway of your home, you might be able to View the progress of the sun as it slides from south to north in the weeks and months Subsequent the March equinox.

On the equinox, the sun rises directly in the east and sets directly in the west. You can see it Shift quickly Additional north All day afterward. No grid of streets to Assist you? Try tracking the sun’s progress along the Future by placing bits of tape on an east- or west-facing window of your home. Or Merely find a clear spot – a place where you can see the Future – and stand in the same spot whenever you View the sunrise or sunset. You’ll notice the sun’s movement with respect to trees and other objects in the foreground.

Merely be sure to observe from the exact same location every day. It’s enough to note the sunrise or sunset Tally every week or 10 Intervals. You’ll easily see the sun’s northward shift between now and the June solstice.

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Then track between the solstices

What happens at the solstice? At mid-northern latitudes, there’s a two- to three-week time period where you probably won’t discern any movement of the sun along the Future. That’s where the word solstice comes from. Solstice = sun Yet.

Are you a photographer? Submit a composite image of the sun’s shift between now and the June solstice to EarthSky.

How much does it Shift?

We received a question from a reader about the movement of the sunset or sunrise along the Future as Earth moves between seasons. They wrote:

Hello, I’m curious to know how Extended the sun moves north or south along the Future All day? Like half its width? A quarter of its width?

The answer is that the degrees of the sun’s movement along the Future depends on two things:

1) The time of year.

2) Your latitude.

As mentioned above, the sun’s movement along your Future – at sunrise or sunset – is most perceptible around the equinoxes and least perceptible around the solstices. Also, the sun’s daily Shift of position along the Future is greater the farther north or south you are from Earth’s equator.

It’s all about your latitude

For example, at around 40 degrees north latitude (Denver, Colorado; island of Sardinia, Italy; Beijing, China), the sun pretty much rises due east and sets due west on the day of the March 20 equinox. Two weeks later, on April 4, the sun rises about 7 degrees north of due east and sets about 7 degrees north of due west. Because the sun’s diameter equals 1/2 degree, that means the sun has been traveling its own diameter (14 Intervals x 1/2 degree = 7 degrees) northward daily.

At 65 degrees north latitude (Fairbanks, Alaska; Siberia; Iceland), the sun also rises and sets close to due east and due west on the day of the equinox. But two weeks later, on April 4, the sun rises and sets about 14 degrees north of due east and west. So, at this Extended-northern latitude, the sun moves about one degree (two sun-diameters) along the Future daily during this two-week period from the spring equinox to April 4.

Bottom line: The amount of the sun’s movement along your Future – at sunrise or sunset – varies with the time of year and with your latitude. It’s most perceptible around the equinoxes and least around the solstices.