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In fact, under clear skies a solar panel placed horizontally at the north or south pole at midsummer receives more sunlight over 24 hours (cosine of angle of incidence equal to sin(23.5°) or about 0.40) than a horizontal panel at the equator at the equinox (average cosine equal to 1/ π or about 0.32).
If the Sun were to be above the horizon 50% of the time for a standard year consisting of 8,760 hours, apparent maximal daytime duration would be 4,380 hours for any point on Earth. However, there are physical and astronomical effects that change that picture.
Ptolemy discusses the correction needed to convert the meridian crossing of the Sun to mean solar time and takes into consideration the nonuniform motion of the Sun along the ecliptic and the meridian correction for the Sun's ecliptic longitude. He states the maximum correction is 8 + 1 ⁄ 3 time-degrees or 5 ⁄ 9 of an hour (Book III ...
Known affectionately to scientists as the "boring billion," there was a seemingly endless period in the world's history when the length of a day stayed put.
[28] [42] Lockwood and Fröhlich, 2007, found "considerable evidence for solar influence on the Earth's pre-industrial climate and the Sun may well have been a factor in post-industrial climate change in the first half of the last century", but that "over the past 20 years, all the trends in the Sun that could have had an influence on the Earth ...
If the extraterrestrial solar radiation is 1,367 watts per square meter (the value when the Earth–Sun distance is 1 astronomical unit), then the direct sunlight at Earth's surface when the Sun is at the zenith is about 1,050 W/m 2, but the total amount (direct and indirect from the atmosphere) hitting the ground is around 1,120 W/m 2. [6]
All days of the year, solstices included, have the same length of 12 hours. Solstice day arcs as viewed from 20° latitude. The Sun culminates at 46.56° altitude in winter and 93.44° altitude in summer. In this case an angle larger than 90° means that the culmination takes place at an altitude of 86.56° in the opposite cardinal direction.
The apparent sun is the true sun as seen by an observer on Earth. [4] Apparent solar time or true solar time [a] is based on the apparent motion of the actual Sun. It is based on the apparent solar day, the interval between two successive returns of the Sun to the local meridian. [5] [6] Apparent solar time can be crudely measured by a sundial. [b]