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Interactive Solar Astronomy
Choose any place on Earth and trace the Sun’s figure-eight path at the same UTC time across all 365 days of the year.
Interactive Sun Analemma Calculator
A solar analemma is the lopsided figure eight traced by the Sun when you record its position at the same clock time every day for a year. This interactive analemma calculator plots solar altitude against compass azimuth, then lets you change the observation time and move the observer anywhere on the world map.
Earth's axis is tilted by about 23.4 degrees, moving the Sun north and south through the seasons. Earth also travels around the Sun in a slightly elliptical orbit, so apparent solar time runs a little fast or slow during different parts of the year. Those two motions combine to create the asymmetric loop.
The vertical axis is solar altitude: 0 degrees is the horizon and 90 degrees is directly overhead. The horizontal axis is azimuth, the compass direction measured clockwise from north. Dot color identifies the month, and the highlighted dot reports the Sun's position for the selected date. Faint background loops show the analemmas produced by other hours of the day.
A Sun analemma is the lopsided figure-eight path made by the Sun when its position is recorded from one location at the same clock time throughout a year.
The north-south motion comes mainly from Earth’s 23.4-degree axial tilt, while the east-west motion comes from the equation of time caused by the tilt and Earth’s slightly elliptical orbit.
Yes. Latitude changes the altitude and orientation of the curve, longitude changes which UTC times place it above the horizon, and the two hemispheres face opposite directions toward the equator.
Altitude is the Sun’s angle above the horizon, from 0 degrees at the horizon to 90 degrees overhead. Azimuth is its compass bearing measured clockwise from north.
A fixed UTC time keeps every sample evenly spaced in clock time. Local daylight-saving changes would shift some observations by an hour and introduce an artificial jump in the curve.