Direction to Sun vs. Sun position above the AE map visualization

oudeicrat

New Member
I'm working on a simple tool to visualize the Sun position above the AE ("Gleason") map with the direction the Sun is actually visible on the sky ("azimuth angle") to see that most of the time the Sun would not be in the direction we would see it if the AE map accurately represented reality.

Currently the tool is hosted here: https://oudeicrat.github.io/ (this might change in the future and this link will be updated)

The calculated Sun position can be verified on timeanddate.com (a link is provided) and the calculated azimuth angle can be verified on suncalc.org (a link is provided)

For example when looking at the sunrise from London during March equinox (2019-03-20 06:04)
london_march_equinox_sunrise.png
we see that the Sun is visible almost directly on the East (azimuth ~90 degrees) while the Sun is above 91 degrees of latitude.

This can be verified with two generated links (the "check" links):
https://www.timeanddate.com/worldcl...h=3&day=20&year=2019&hour=6&min=4&ntxt=London
https://www.suncalc.org/#/51.51,-0.13,2/2019.03.20/06:04/1/0


I'll be adding more description and screenshots later here

Known bugs: (last update 2019-01-24)
- for some areas (especially the oceans) the timezone offset is not available on timezonedb.com, so I can't generate a proper link to suncalc.org to verify the azimuth angle

please report any bugs you notice or maybe even improvements or feature suggestions
 
Last edited:
Can I suggest that the (check) links are set to open in a new tab rather than the same one?
great suggestion, done :)

What does the UTC button do?
it accepts the UTC date and time entered in the text-box and shows where the Sun would be at that date and time. It's labeled "UTC" to ensure people will realize it's a UTC time, not a local time relative to their timezone or the timezone of the selected location on the map
 
Very nice, good visual tool to show how the sun could never match the reality that we can see, from anywhere at any time. Particularly for locations on or near the equator which clearly demonstrates the impossibility of the AE map and confirmable reality. I really don't see how this could be refuted other than ignore it.
 
Could this be done for the moon as well, perhaps even a moon phase visualisation, is what we see in reality against what we should see as per AE map as well, wouldn't be surprised the AE map should enable seeing the far side of the moon.
 
After running some scenarios for Australia or any southern hemisphere locations, it clearly demonstrates the wackyness of the AE scenario. Rises from opposite directions, seemingly close to reality in mid morning till mid afternoon then setting in the opposite direction. Of course, if you live in the southern hemisphere you can poo poo it by getting up at 10 am and going to bed at 4 ish.
 
Even assuming the flerspective explanation for sunrise and sunset, which somehow makes the Sun invisible during part of its "orbit" over the FE: During the months when there is more than 12 hours of daylight, you would be seeing the Sun as it passes through more than 180 degrees of its orbit. Which means there would be a retrograde motion during the morning and evening.
 
I added a couple of more features, the major one being a projection of stars (the "sky" checkbox) above the AE map vs. a local fisheye view from the ground (based on observer's location), and a rudimentary distance measurement that currently shows a great circle path (green) and a straight-looking path on the AE map (purple) and the distance this straight-looking line would be if the Earth were actually flat and the AE map was accurate (the blue "FE km" number).
"Sky horizon" checkbox hides the part of the sky that is under the horizon from the observer's point of view at sea level.
The celestial library I used to project the stars does show the lunar phases, but they don't seem to be oriented, they just indicate the amount of the Moon lit by the Sun

Here I include an animation of the stars and planets visible from Sydney this night made from screenshots

stars visible in sydney20200828.gif
 
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