Calculate the noon sun angles for new orleans, usa and helsinki, finland on september 22. in the answer below, new orleans answer is listed first. refer to the notes on how to calculate noon sun angles. 36.5 degrees, 6.5 degrees 60 degrees, 30 degrees 83.5 degrees 53.5 degrees
Accepted Solution
A:
We need to calculate noon sun angle. Noon sun angle is an angle at which sun-rays fall at noon on a given date. On September 22, the sun’s rays form a 90° angle at noon at the equator.
Formula for calculating noon sun angle is:
Noon_sun_angle = 90° - Zenith angle
We have complementary angles so we need to substract zenith angle from 90°.
The zenith angle is the distance between subsolar point (point where sun is at 90°) and the latitude of an observer. In our case this angle will have same value as latitude because subsolar point is at equator 0°. If our latitude and subsolar point are at same hemisphere we substract values. Otherwise we add values.
New Orleans, USA Latitude = 30° Noon_sun_angle = 90° - 30° = 60°
Helsinki, Finland Latitude = 60° Noon_sun_angle = 90° - 60° = 30°