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Daylight Applet

How to compute the length of a day


The following calculation gives an approximate value for the length of a day from sunrise to sunset (duration of daylight) for any location.

A screen shot of Walter Fendts applet shows the "nautical triangle" of the celestial sphere for an observer located at O: North Pole NP, Zenith Ze and star or sun St.
The angles in this triangle are: NP-Ze = 90° - beta, NP-St = 90° - delta, Ze-St = 90° - h

 

h

altitude (elevation) of the sun

beta

geogr. latitude of the observer
N: beta > 0°, S: beta < 0°

delta

declination of the sun
measured in degrees north and south of the celestial equator
N: 0° < delta < 23.5°, S: 0° > delta > - 23.5°

tau

local hour angle of the sun (Greenwich hour angle +/- longitude),
measured along the equator from the meridian S-NP-N of the observer to the hour circle SP-St-NP of the star St.

From spherical trigonometry we get:

sin (h) = sin (beta) * sin (delta)   + cos (beta) * cos (delta) * cos (tau)

At sunrise / sunset, with sin (h)=0 and dividing by cos (beta)*cos (delta) we get:

cos (tau) = - tan (beta)*tan (delta)

For |- tan(beta)*tan(delta)| > 1 there is no sunrise or sunset (length of day 0 hours or 24 hours ).

We can approximate the declination of the sun by:

delta = 23.5° * sin [(x/365)*360°]

with x = number of days since vernal equinox (about March 21)


 
June 21, local hour angle tau for sunset in Vienna at 20:58 local time.

Example 1:

June 21, delta=23.5°, beta=48° (Vienna), we get tau = 118.9°
corresponding to 7.93 hours (since tau=360° corresponds to 24 hours)
The Sun rises 7.93 hours before transit (culmination) and sets 7.93 hours after,
length of solar day is 15,85 hours,
exact value (from "Sun, Moon & earth Applet") is: 16.07 hours.

 

Example 2:

December 21, delta=-23.5°, beta=48° (Vienna), we get tau = 61.1°
corresponding to 4.07 hours (since tau=360° corresponds to 24 hours)
Sun rises 4.07 hours before transit (Culmination) and sets 4.07 hours after,
length of solar day is 8.15 hours,
exact value is: 8.36 hours.

 


More precise calculation by my JavaScript

 


Last Modified: 2008, Jan 02