Unanswered Question of the Day: The Equation of Time
2. The equation of time is not actually an equation. This is an older sense of the word "equation," that doesn't refer to a short mathematical expression with an equal sign, but rather the sense of "equating" one thing to another. So it would more accurately be called the translation of time or the relation or conversion of time. The two forms of time that we are comparing are that of clock time and solar time.
Now, there are calculators out there that allow you to plug in the relevant data and get a result. There are also pages full of formulas that tell you how to crunch the numbers yourself. I'm dissatisfied with both of these solutions. Clearly there was a time and a place where ordinary people could perform simple calculations, or consult standard tables to get this information.
What I'm asking for is a simple, standard, non-electric, uncomplicated way to predict where the sun is going to be positioned in the sky at any particular time of day, on any particular day of the year, and in any particular location on the surface of the planet.
Information from the world of sundials might be useful, although I've found that most of them are customized to their geographical location, and some are provided with customized tables of the equation of time.
Another thing that might be useful in solving this is finding a way to calculate precise sunrise and sunset information for a particular location, and then finding the midpoints between the two values. Of course I could also just use a watch and make physical observations, but that would be time-consuming.
Please, Internet, illuminate me.
Now, there are calculators out there that allow you to plug in the relevant data and get a result. There are also pages full of formulas that tell you how to crunch the numbers yourself. I'm dissatisfied with both of these solutions. Clearly there was a time and a place where ordinary people could perform simple calculations, or consult standard tables to get this information.
What I'm asking for is a simple, standard, non-electric, uncomplicated way to predict where the sun is going to be positioned in the sky at any particular time of day, on any particular day of the year, and in any particular location on the surface of the planet.
Information from the world of sundials might be useful, although I've found that most of them are customized to their geographical location, and some are provided with customized tables of the equation of time.
Another thing that might be useful in solving this is finding a way to calculate precise sunrise and sunset information for a particular location, and then finding the midpoints between the two values. Of course I could also just use a watch and make physical observations, but that would be time-consuming.
Please, Internet, illuminate me.