THE
SUN
THE
SUN
- June solstice (summer in northern emisphere, winter in southern emisphere)
June, 21st 01.46 UT
- Constellation
June 21st, 05.25 UT - Sun goes into Gemini
- Celestial coordinates and
distance
| Date | Declination | Right ascension | Distance from the Earth |
| 01/06 | +22°04' | 04h36m54s | 151,706 millions Km |
| 08/06 | +22°51' | 05h05m44s | 151,848 millions Km |
| 15/06 | +23°18' | 05h34m45s | 151,956 millions Km |
| 22/06 | +23°26' | 06h03m51s | 152,037 millions Km |
| 29/06 | +23°13' | 06h32m55s | 152,090 millions Km |
Day and night in real time
Declination: is the correspondent of latitude on
the celestial sphere. It is measured in degrees it the same way of the
terrestial geographic coordinates. Positive declination indicates a point
in the northern emisphere. Negative declination indicates a point in the
southern emisphere. The Sun has positive declination from 21st March to
23th September. During the rest of the year, the Sun has negative declination.
The maximum positive value (23°26') is reached at
June solstice (northern summer solstice), the minimum value is reached
at December solstice (sothern summer solstice).
In the moment of the equinox, the Sun crosses the celestial
equator (declination=0°).
Right ascension: is the correspondent of longitude on the celestial sphere. This sphere is divided into 24 meridians, because the spinning motion of Earth is 24 hours long. So the right ascension is measured in hours, minutes and seconds. One hour of right ascension correspons to 15° degrees (360°/24=15°). The meridian, where the Sun transits at the moment of March equinox is assumed as referring meridian (right ascension = 0h 0m 0s). This point lies into the constellation of Pisces and is named "gamma point".
Go back to table with celestial
coordinates of the Sun
