Sunset which side

After all, it happens every day of our life, right? Sunrises and sunsets happen because Earth spins, counter-clockwise if we look down at the North Pole. We can use the same reasoning to explain a similar phenomenon for the Moon. So moonrise will also shift north or south of due east as the Moon completes its orbit. In this case, though, the changes occur over the period of roughly a month instead of a year.

Earth must complete a full orbit for the Sun to go through its extremes, rising the furthest north of east during summer solstice and the furthest south of east during winter solstice.

On other days, the sunrise will alter and rise in either north of exact east or south of exact west. The sun rising in extreme northeast and setting in the extreme northwest is observed during the summer solstice.

In winter solstice, the sun rises in farthest southeast and sets in the furthest southwest. The solstice is caused by tilting of the earth as it eccentrics on the orbit. Despite the observation that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, it actually stays in one position. The sun is centered in the solar system, therefore, it neither rises nor sets. The observation of rising and setting of the sun is due to the rotation of the earth. The sunset direction reaches its northerly and southerly extremes at the solstices, while the noon altitudes are also at their extremes highest and lowest at the solstices.

The midpoints in both cases occur at the equinoxes. Thanks largely to Hipparchus of Nicaea — who worked about BCE, and to whom Ptolemy was indebted — astronomers had already figured out the geometrical configuration of the equinoxes. You can get the idea by visualising a third, more obvious plane — an extension of the one we appear to be standing on, bounded by the horizon with the sky sitting on top like a hemispherical dome.

This is the plane in which the sun appears to make its daily journey about Earth, from sunrise to sunset and on through the night until sunrise again. It must have seemed strange to the ancients that the sun had two different paths in its journey about the Earth. Still, these astronomers had figured out that these two paths lay in two different, intersecting planes. The equinoxes and the directions of sunset show why.

The equinoxes occur when the sun sets due west, and the days and nights are virtually of equal length everywhere on Earth. So, in its yearly journey along the ecliptic, there are only two days when the sun crosses the equator. Which means that the ecliptic and equator must be in different planes, and must intersect at the equinoxes. Solar Resources. The Array Magazine. Online Account Help.

Get a Quote. Help Center. The Array Magazine ». Home Improvement ». Where does the sun rise and set. Where does the sun rise and set? Home Improvement. Exterior Design. Where Does the Sun Rise and Set? Vernal Equinox In our calendar year, the first milestone is the Vernal Equinox.