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The Sun over Phang Nga Bay in Thailand (), at 7:00 a.m. local time on a March morning. The position of the Sun in the sky is a function of both the time and the geographic location of observation on Earth's surface.
The day this occurs is called the June solstice day. Similarly, for an observer on the South Pole, the Sun reaches the highest position on the December solstice day. When it is the summer solstice at one Pole, it is the winter solstice on the other. The Sun's westerly motion never ceases as Earth is continually in rotation.
The Sun's path affects the length of daytime experienced and amount of daylight received along a certain latitude during a given season. The relative position of the Sun is a major factor in the heat gain of buildings and in the performance of solar energy systems. [1]
On the summer solstice, Earth's maximum axial tilt toward the Sun is 23.44°. [7] Likewise, the Sun's declination from the celestial equator is 23.44°. In areas outside the tropics, the sun reaches its highest elevation angle at solar noon on the summer solstice. Diagram of Earth's seasons as seen from the north.
In Islamic astronomy, the passing of the Sun over the zenith of Mecca becomes the basis of the qibla observation by shadows twice a year on 27/28 May and 15/16 July. [ 6 ] [ 7 ] At a given location during the course of a day, the Sun reaches not only its zenith but also its nadir , at the antipode of that location 12 hours from solar noon .
The images, obtained in March 2023 by the ESA's Solar Orbiter, represent what the agency says are the highest-resolution views of the sun's surface, known as the photosphere, to date.
NASA's Parker Solar Probe is about to make its closest approach to the sun. The spacecraft will fly within 3.8 million miles of the solar surface.
Solar noon, also known as the local apparent solar noon and Sun transit time (informally high noon), [3] is the moment when the Sun contacts the observer's meridian (culmination or meridian transit), reaching its highest position above the horizon on that day and casting the shortest shadow.