Analemma - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1 de 7

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Analemma&printable=yes

Analemma
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In astronomy, an analemma (/nlm/; from Greek "support")[a] is a

diagram showing the deviation of the Sun from its mean motion in the sky, as viewed
from a fixed location on the Earth. Due to the Earth's axial tilt and orbital
eccentricity, the Sun will not be in the same position in the sky at the same time every
day. The northsouth component of the analemma is the Sun's declination, and the
eastwest component is the equation of time. This diagram has the form of a slender
figure-eight, and can often be found on globes of the Earth.
Diagrams of analemmas frequently carry marks that show the position of the Sun at
various closely spaced dates throughout the year. Analemmas with date marks can be
used for various practical purposes. Without date marks, they are of little use, except
as decoration.
Analemmas (as they are known today) have been used in conjunction with sundials
since the 18th century to convert between apparent and mean solar time. Prior to this,
the term referred to any tool or method used in the construction of sundials.[1]
It is possible to photograph the analemma by keeping a camera at a fixed location and
orientation and taking multiple exposures throughout the year, always at the same
clock-time.
Although the term "analemma" usually refers to the Earth's solar analemma, it can be
applied to other celestial bodies as well.

Afternoon analemma photo taken in

19981999 by Jack Fishburn in Murray
Hill, New Jersey, USA. The Bell
Laboratories building is in the
foreground.

Contents
1
2
3
4

Description
Solar analemma as seen from Earth
Photography of the analemma
Estimating sunrise and sunset data, using analemma
4.1 Earliest and latest sunrise and sunset
4.2 Times of sunrise and sunset
4.3 Azimuths of sunrise and sunset
5 Solar analemmas seen from other planets
6 Analemmas of geosynchronous satellites
7 Footnotes
8 See also
9 References
10 Further reading
11 External links

Analemma with date marks, printed on

a globe, Globe Museum, Vienna,
Austria

Description
An analemma can be traced by plotting the position of the Sun as viewed from a fixed position on Earth at the same clock time
every day for an entire year, or by plotting a graph of the Sun's declination against the equation of time. The resulting curve
resembles a long, slender figure-eight, a lemniscate of Bernoulli. This curve is commonly printed on terrestrial globes, usually
in the eastern Pacific Ocean, the only large tropical region with very little land. It is possible, though challenging, to
photograph the analemma, by leaving the camera in a fixed position for an entire year and snapping images on 24-hour intervals
(or some multiple thereof); see section below.
The long axis of the figure the line segment joining the northernmost point on the analemma to the southernmost is
bisected by the celestial equator, to which it is approximately perpendicular, and has a "length" of twice the obliquity of the
ecliptic, i.e., about 47 degrees. The component along this axis of the Sun's apparent motion is a result of the familiar seasonal
variation of the declination of the Sun through the year. The "width" of the figure is due to the equation of time, and its angular
extent is the difference between the greatest positive and negative deviations of local solar time from local mean time when

16/01/2016 04:05 p.m.

Analemma - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2 de 7

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Analemma&printable=yes

this time-difference is related to angle at the rate of 15 degrees per hour, i.e., 360 degrees/24 h. This width of the analemma is
approximately 7.7 degrees, so the length of the figure is more than six times its width. The figure-eight form arises from the
relationship between the direction of the Earth's axis, and the line passing through the perihelion and aphelion of the Earth's
elliptical orbit around the Sun.
There are three parameters that affect the size and shape of the analemma obliquity, eccentricity, and the angle between the
apse line and the line of solstices. Viewed from an object with a perfectly circular orbit and no axial tilt, the Sun would always
appear at the same point in the sky at the same time of day throughout the year and the analemma would be a dot. For an object
with a circular orbit but significant axial tilt, the analemma would be a figure of eight with northern and southern lobes equal
in size. For an object with an eccentric orbit but no axial tilt, the analemma would be a straight eastwest line along the
celestial equator.
The northsouth component of the analemma shows the Sun's declination, its latitude on the celestial sphere, or the latitude on
the Earth at which the Sun is directly overhead. The eastwest component shows the equation of time, or the difference
between solar time and local mean time. This can be interpreted as how "fast" or "slow" the Sun (or a sundial) is compared to
clock time. It also shows how far west or east the Sun is, compared with its mean position. The analemma can be considered as
a graph in which the Sun's declination and the equation of time are plotted against each other. In many diagrams of the
analemma, a third dimension, that of time, is also included, shown by marks that represent the position of the Sun at various,
fairly closely spaced, dates throughout the year.
In diagrams, the analemma is drawn as it would be seen in the sky by an observer looking upward. If north is at the top, west is
to the right. This corresponds with the sign of the equation of time, which is positive in the westward direction. The further
west the Sun is, compared with its mean position, the more "fast" a sundial is, compared with a clock. (See Equation of
time#Sign of the equation of time.) If the analemma is a graph with positive declination (north) plotted upward, positive
equation of time (west) is plotted to the right. This is the conventional orientation for graphs. When the analemma is marked
on a geographical globe, west in the analemma is to the right, while the geographical features on the globe are shown with west
to the left. To avoid this confusion, it has been suggested that analemmas on globes should be printed with west to the left, but
this is not done, at least, not frequently. In practice, the analemma is so nearly symmetrical that the shapes of the mirror images
are not easily distinguished, but if date markings are present, they go in opposite directions. The Sun moves eastward on the
analemma near the solstices. This can be used to tell which way the analemma is printed. See the image above, at high
magnification (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/Globenmuseum_Vienna_20091010_479.JPG
/1280px-Globenmuseum_Vienna_20091010_479.JPG).
An analemma that includes an image of a solar eclipse is called a tutulemma a portmanteau coined by photographers Cenk
E. Tezel and Tun Tezel based on the Turkish word for eclipse.[2]

Solar analemma as seen from Earth

Owing to the tilt of Earth's axis
(23.439) and its elliptical orbit
around the Sun, the relative
location of the Sun above the
horizon is not constant from day to
day when observed at the same
clock time each day. If the time of
observation is not 12:00 noon
local mean time, then depending on
one's geographical latitude, this
loop will be inclined at different
angles.
Analemma as seen
at noon from
The figure on the left is an example
Earth's northern
of an analemma as seen from the
hemisphere with
Earth's northern hemisphere. It is a
plot of the position of the Sun at
declination and
Analemma plotted as seen at noon GMT from the Royal
12:00 noon at Royal Observatory,
equation of time to
Observatory, Greenwich (latitude 51.48 north, longitude 0.0015
Greenwich, England (latitude
the same scale.
west).
51.48N, longitude 0.0015W)
during the year 2006. The
horizontal axis is the azimuth angle in degrees (180 is facing south). The vertical axis is the altitude in degrees above the
horizon. The first day of each month is shown in black, and the solstices and equinoxes are shown in green. It can be seen that

16/01/2016 04:05 p.m.

Analemma - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

3 de 7

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Analemma&printable=yes

the equinoxes occur at altitude = 90 51.48 = 38.52, and the solstices occur at altitudes where is the axial tilt of
the earth, 23.439. The analemma is plotted with its width highly exaggerated, revealing a slight asymmetry (due to the
two-week misalignment between the apsides of the Earth's orbit and its solstices).
The analemma is oriented with the smaller loop appearing north of the larger loop. At the North Pole, the analemma would be
completely upright (an 8 with the small loop at the top), and you'd only be able to see the top half of it. If you headed south,
once you drop below the Arctic Circle, you'd be able to see the entire analemma. If you see it at noon, it continues to be
upright, and rises higher from the horizon as you move south. When you get to the equator, it is directly overhead. As you go
further south, it moves toward the northern horizon, and is then seen with the larger loop at the top. If, on the other hand, you
looked at the analemma in the early morning or evening, it would start to tilt to one side as you moved southward from the
North Pole. By time you got down to the equator, the analemma would be completely horizontal. Then, as you continued to go
south, it would continue rotating so that the small loop was beneath the large loop in the sky. Once you crossed the Antarctic
Circle, the analemma, now nearly completely inverted, would start to disappear, until only 50%, part of the larger loop, was
visible from the South Pole.[3]
See equation of time for a more detailed description of the eastwest characteristics of the analemma.

Photography of the analemma

The first analemma photograph ever made was created in 19781979 by photographer Dennis di Cicco over New England in
the United States. He made 44 exposures on a single frame of film, all taken from the same location with a solar filter. Since
then, most photographers take a single foreground image and superimpose multiple Sun images on top of it.[4]

Estimating sunrise and sunset data, using analemma

If it is marked to show the position of the Sun on it on fairly frequent dates, such as the first, eleventh, and twenty-first days of
every calendar month, the analemma summarises the apparent movements of the Sun, relative to its mean position, throughout
the year. A date-marked diagram of the analemma, with equal scales in both northsouth and eastwest directions, can be used
as a tool to estimate quantities such as the times of sunrise and sunset, which depend on the Sun's position. Generally, making
these estimates depends on visualizing the analemma as a rigid structure in the sky, which moves around the Earth at constant
speed so it rises and sets once a day, with the Sun slowly moving around it once a year. Some approximations are involved in
the process, chiefly the use of a plane diagram to represent things on the celestial sphere, and the use of drawing and
measurement instead of numerical calculation. Because of these, the estimates are not perfectly precise, but they are usually
good enough for practical purposes. Also, they have instructional value, showing in a simple visual way how the times of
sunrises and sunsets vary.

Earliest and latest sunrise and sunset

The analemma can be used to find the dates of the earliest and latest sunrises
and sunsets of the year. These do not occur on the dates of the solstices.
With reference to the image of a simulated analemma in the eastern sky, the
lowest point of the analemma has just risen above the horizon. If the Sun
were at that point, sunrise would have just occurred. This would be the
latest sunrise of the year, since all other points on the analemma would rise
earlier. Therefore, the date of the latest sunrise is when the Sun is at this
lowest point (29 December, when the analemma is tilted as seen from
latitude 50 North, as is shown in the diagram). Similarly, when the Sun is
at the highest point on the analemma, near its top-left end, (on 15 June) the
earliest sunrise of the year will occur. Likewise, at sunset, the earliest sunset
will occur when the Sun is at its lowest point on the analemma when it is
close to the western horizon, and the latest sunset when it is at the highest
point.
None of these points is exactly at one of the ends of the analemma, where
the Sun is at a solstice. As seen from north-mid-temperate latitudes, as the
diagram shows, the earliest sunset occurs some time before the December
solstice - typically a week or two before it - and the latest sunrise happens a
week or two after the solstice. Thus, the darkest evening occurs in early to
mid-December, but the mornings keep getting darker until about the New

Diagram of an analemma looking east in the

northern hemisphere. The dates of the Sun's
position are shown (in German). This analemma
is calculated, not photographed.

16/01/2016 04:05 p.m.

Analemma - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

4 de 7

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Analemma&printable=yes

Year.
The exact dates are those on which the Sun is at the points where the horizon is
tangential to the analemma, which in turn depend on how much the analemma, or
the northsouth meridian passing through it, is tilted from the vertical. This angle
of tilt is essentially the co-latitude (90 degrees minus the latitude) of the
observer. Calculating these dates numerically is complex, but they can be
estimated fairly accurately by placing a straight-edge, tilted at the appropriate
angle, tangential to a diagram of the analemma, and reading the dates
(interpolating as necessary) when the Sun is at the positions of contact.

Graph of time of sunrise for Libreville,

Gabon, very near the equator. Note there
are two maxima and two minima.

In temperate latitudes, the dates get further from the solstices as the absolute
value of the latitude decreases. In near-equatorial latitudes, the situation is more
complex. The analemma lies almost horizontal, so the horizon can be tangential
to it at two points, one in each loop of the analemma. Thus there are two widely
separated dates in the year when the Sun rises earlier than on adjoining dates, and
so on.[5]

Times of sunrise and sunset

A similar geometrical method, based on the analemma, can be used to find the times of sunrise and sunset at any place on the
Earth (except within or close to the Arctic or Antarctic Circle), on any date.
The "origin" of the analemma, where the solar declination and the equation of time are both zero, rises and sets at 6 am and
6 pm local mean time on every day of the year, irrespective of the latitude of the observer. (This estimation does not take
account of atmospheric refraction.) If the analemma is drawn in a diagram, tilted at the appropriate angle for an observer's
latitude (as described above), and if a horizontal line is drawn to pass through the position of the Sun on the analemma on any
given date (interpolating between the date markings as necessary), then at sunrise this line represents the horizon. The origin
moves along the celestial equator at a speed of 15 degrees per hour, the speed of the Earth's rotation. The distance along the
equator from the point where it intersects the horizon to the position of the origin of the analemma at sunrise is the distance the
origin moves between 6 am and the time of sunrise on the given date. Measuring the length of this equatorial segment therefore
gives the difference between 6 am and the time of sunrise.
The measurement should, of course, be done on the diagram, but it should be expressed in terms of the angle that would be
subtended at an observer on the ground by the corresponding distance in the analemma in the sky. It can be useful to compare it
with the length of the analemma, which subtends 47 degrees. Thus, for example, if the length of the equatorial segment on the
diagram is 0.4 times the length of the analemma on the diagram, then the segment in the celestial analemma would subtend
0.4 47 or 18.8 degrees at the observer on the ground. The angle, in degrees, should be divided by 15 to get the time
difference in hours between sunrise and 6 am. The sign of the difference is clear from the diagram. If the horizon line at sunrise
passes above the origin of the analemma, the Sun rises before 6 am, and vice versa.
The same technique can be used, mutatis mutandis, to estimate the time of sunset. Note that the estimated times are in local
mean time. Corrections must be applied to convert them to standard time or daylight saving time. These corrections will
include a term that involves the observer's longitude, so both his latitude and longitude affect the final result.

Azimuths of sunrise and sunset

The azimuths (true compass bearings) of the points on the horizon where the Sun rises and sets can be easily estimated, using
the same diagram as is used to find the times of sunrise and sunset, as described above.
The point where the horizon intersects the equator represents due east or west. The point where the Sun is at sunrise or sunset
represents the direction of sunrise or sunset. Simply measuring the distance along the horizon between these points, in angular
terms (comparing it with the length of the analemma, as described above), gives the angle between due east or west and the
direction of sunrise or sunset. Whether the sunrise or sunset is north or south of due east or west is clear from the diagram. The
larger loop of the analemma is at its southern end.

Solar analemmas seen from other planets

On Earth, the analemma appears as a figure eight, but on other solar system bodies it may be very different[6] because of the
interplay between the tilt of each body's axis and the elliptical shape of its orbit. So, if one of these (like eccentricity) always
dominates the other (as is the case on Mars), we get a teardrop. If one of them (like eccentricity) is significant and the other is

16/01/2016 04:05 p.m.

Analemma - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

5 de 7

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Analemma&printable=yes

practically zero (as is the case on Jupiter, with a 3 degree tilt only), you get something much
closer to an ellipse. If both are important enough, that sometimes eccentricity dominates and
sometimes axial tilt dominates, you get a figure 8.[3]
In the following list, "day" and "year" refer to the
synodic day and sidereal year of the particular
body:

Analemma for Mars

Time-lapse photography of an analemma

on Mars. Created using images of the
MarsDial on the Opportunity rover.

Mercury: Because orbital resonance

makes the day exactly two years long,
the method of plotting the Sun's
position at the same time each day
would yield only a single point.
However, the equation of time can still
be calculated for any time of the year,
so an analemma can be graphed with
this information. The resulting curve is
a nearly straight eastwest line.
Venus: There are slightly less than two
days per year, so it would take several
years to accumulate a complete
analemma by the usual method. The
resulting curve is an ellipse.
Mars: teardrop
Jupiter: ellipse
Saturn: technically a figure 8, but the
northern loop is so small that it more
closely resembles a teardrop
Uranus: figure 8 (Uranus is tilted past
"sideways" to an angle of 98 degrees.
Its orbit is about as elliptical as
Jupiter's and more elliptical than
Earth's. )
Neptune: figure 8

Analemmas of geosynchronous satellites

Geosynchronous satellites revolve around the Earth with a period of one sidereal day. Seen from a fixed point on the Earth's
surface, they trace paths in the sky which repeat every day, and are therefore simple and meaningful analemmas. They are
generally roughly elliptical, teardrop shaped, or figure-8 in shape. Their shapes and dimensions depend on the parameters of the
orbits. A subset of geosynchronous satellites are geostationary ones, which ideally have perfectly circular orbits, exactly in the
Earth's equatorial plane. A geostationary satellite therefore ideally remains stationary relative to the Earth's surface, staying
over a single point on the equator. No real satellite is exactly geostationary, so real ones trace small analemmas in the sky.
Since the sizes of the orbits of geosynchronous satellites are similar to the size of the Earth, substantial parallax occurs,
depending on the location of the observer on the Earth's surface, so observers in different places see different analemmas.
The paraboloidal dishes that are used for radio communication with geosynchronous satellites often have to move so as to
follow the satellite's daily movement around its analemma. The mechanisms that drive them must therefore be programmed
with the parameters of the analemma. Exceptions are dishes that are used with (approximately) geostationary satellites, since

16/01/2016 04:05 p.m.

Analemma - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

6 de 7

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Analemma&printable=yes

these satellites appear to move so little that a fixed dish can function adequately at all times.

Footnotes
a. The word is rare in English, not to be found in most dictionaries. The Greek plural would be
analemmata, but in English analemmas is more frequently used.

See also
Analemmatic sundial
Armillary sphere
Equation of time
Lemniscate
Position of the Sun
Perihelion and aphelion
Sunrise
Sunset
De architectura
On the Dioptra

References

Groundtrack of QZSS
geosynchronous orbit. Seen
from the ground, its analemma
would have a similar shape.

1. Sawyer, F., Of Analemmas, Mean Time and the Analemmatic Sundial (http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc
/download?doi=10.1.1.142.3875&rep=rep1&type=pdf)
2. Tutulemma: Solar Eclipse Analemma (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap091220.html)
3. Why Our Analemma Looks like a Figure 8 (http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2009/08/why_our_analemma_looks_like_a.php)
4. "The First Analemma Photo". National Geographic Magazine. 28 December 2010. Retrieved 2011-01-01.
5. "The Dark Days of Winter". at the USNO website (http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO)
6. Other Analemmas (http://www.analemma.com/Pages/OtherAnalemmas/OtherAnalemmas.html)

Further reading
Oliver, Bernard M. (1972). "The Shape of the Analemma". Sky and Telescope 44: 20. Bibcode:1972S&T....44...20O.
Kittler, Richard; Darula, Stan (2004). "Analemma, the Ancient Sketch of Fictitious Sunpath GeometrySun, Time and
History of Mathematics". Architectural Science Review 47 (2): 1414. doi:10.1080/00038628.2004.9697037.
Sidoli, Nathan (2005). "Heron's Dioptra 35 and Analemma Methods: An Astronomical Determination of the Distance
between Two Cities". Centaurus 47 (3): 23658. Bibcode:2005Cent...47..236S.
doi:10.1111/j.1600-0498.2005.470304.x.
Semazzi, Fredrick H.M.; Scroggs, Jeffrey S.; Pouliot, George A.; McKee-Burrows, Analemma Leia; Norman, Matthew;
Poojary, Vikram; Tsai, Yu-Ming (2005). "On the Accuracy of Semi-Lagrangian Numerical Simulation of Internal
Gravity Wave Motion in the Atmosphere". Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan 83 (5): 85169.
doi:10.2151/jmsj.83.851.
Luckey, P. (1927). "Das Analemma von Ptolemus" [The analemma by Ptolemy]. Astronomische Nachrichten (in
German) 230 (2): 1746. Bibcode:1927AN....230...17L. doi:10.1002/asna.19272300202.
Id, Yusif (December 1969). "An Analemma Construction for Right and Oblique Ascensions". The Mathematics
Teacher 62 (8): 66972. JSTOR 27958259.
Yeow, Teo Shin (2002). The Analemma for Latitudinally-Challenged People (PDF) (BS Thesis). National University
of Singapore.

External links
Analemma Series from Sunrise to Sunset (http://www.perseus.gr/AstroWikimedia Commons has media
Solar-Analemma.htm)
related to Analemmatic sundials.
Earth Science Photo of the Day (http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2005
/01/colorado-analemma.html) (2005-01-22)
The Equation of Time and the Analemma (http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/moonkmft/Articles/EquationOfTime.html) by
Kieron Taylor
The Use of the Analemma (http://www.nikolasschiller.com/blog/index.php/archives/2008/08/01/1449/) from an
inset from Bowles's New and Accurate Map of the World (1780)
Figure-Eight in the Sky (http://www.astronomycorner.net/games/analemma.html) contains link to a C program using

16/01/2016 04:05 p.m.

Analemma - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

7 de 7

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Analemma&printable=yes

a more accurate formula than most (particularly at high inclinations and eccentricities)
Analemma.com (http://www.analemma.com/) dedicated to the analemma.
Calculate and Chart the Analemma (http://www.wsanford.com/~wsanford/exo/sundials/analemma_calc.html) a web
site offered by a Fairfax County Public Schools planetarium that describes the analemma and also offers a
downloadable spreadsheet that allows the user to experiment with analemmas of varying shapes.
Analemma Sundial Applet (http://www.jgiesen.de/analemma/) includes lots of reference charts.
Analemmas (http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/Analemmas/) by Stephen Wolfram based on a program by Michael
Trott, Wolfram Demonstrations Project.
Analemma in Verse (http://www.mail-archive.com/sundial@uni-koeln.de/msg11062.html) by Tad Dunne
The Making of a Tutulemma (http://www.spaceweather.com/glossary/tutulemma.htm) by Tun Tezel
Making of a Solargraphy Analemma (http://analemma.pl/english-version) by Maciej Zapir and ukasz Fajfrowski
Astronomy Picture of the Day
2002-07-09 (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020709.html) Analemma
2003-03-20 (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030320.html) Sunrise Analemma
2004-06-21 (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040621.html) Analemma over Ancient Nemea
2005-07-13 (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050713.html) Analemma of the Moon
2006-12-23 (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061223.html) Analemma over the Temple of Olympian
Zeus
2006-12-30 (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061230.html) Martian Analemma at Sagan Memorial
Station (simulated)
2007-06-17 (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070617.html) Analemma over Ukraine
2007-12-04 (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071204.html) Analemma over New Jersey (film)
2008-12-21 (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap081221.html) Analemma over the Porch of Maidens
2009-12-20 (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap091220.html) Tutulemma: Solar Eclipse Analemma
2010-12-31 (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap101231.html) Analemma 2010
2012-09-20 (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap120920.html) Sunrise Analemma (with a little extra)
2013-10-14 (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap131014.html) High Noon Analemma Over Azerbaijan
2014-03-20 (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap140320.html) Solargraphy Analemma
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Analemma&oldid=694518245"
Categories: Dynamics of the Solar System Solar phenomena Sundials
This page was last modified on 9 December 2015, at 19:41.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using
this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

16/01/2016 04:05 p.m.