what is the solar declination on october 26th what is the solar declination on october 26th

[8], The second complication is that, assuming no deflection of the vertical, "overhead" means perpendicular to the ellipsoid at observer's location, but the perpendicular line does not pass through the center of the earth; almanacs provide declinations measured at the center of the Earth. xref North is defined to have an azimuth of 0 and south has an azimuth of 180. Its declination reaches a maximum equal to the angle of the Earth's axial tilt (23.44 degrees) on the June solstice, then decreases until the December . The advent of railways necessitated more accurate time keeping and time zones were introduced to keep an entire region on the same time1. L: + can use a cradle exactly like a German (equatorial) - huge advantage + possibly lower moment of inertia - not a huge advantage + one less DEC axle - stiffness of a single tine - tube centerline not usually on the RA axis - balancing accessories coupled in both axes Fork: + geometrically a stiff design . In the play, fairies enchant two couples in a magical forestand haphazardly get enchanted themselves. 0000019707 00000 n Generally, if a star whose declination is is circumpolar for some observer (where is either positive or negative), then a star whose declination is never rises above the horizon, as seen by the same observer. Similarly, when the southern hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun, it is summer in the south and winter in the north. Received 28 October 2021, Revised 21 November 2021, Accepted 7 December 2021 . Magnetic declination changes over time and with location. $J''H'B)R/~TXo$*_~3,[ZO. Calculate the zenith angles and solar altitude angles for the following locations at the specified dates. The declination of the Sun is the angle between the light rays from the Sun and the Earth's equator. Every year has 365 days except leap years. Its declination becomes zero during the spring equinox and reaches the maximum declination angle of 23.5 degrees during the summer solstice. and get an answer to your love questions with this fun oracle based on cartomancy. The current Right Ascension of Venus is 00h 51m 35s and the Declination is +04 56' 08" (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [ change ]). Distance: The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Venus, the planet closest to Earth, has a very small axial tilt, just 3. On our planet, solstices are defined by solar declinationthe latitude of the Earth where the sun is directly overhead at noon. The prefix "J" indicates that it is a Julian epoch. 740 An earthquake strikes Constantinople, causing damage to city walls and buildings. The Suns declination also affects the duration of the daylight. A better formuation is mentioned in the following section. By definition, the solar hour angle is zero degrees at solar noon. Winter weather put ancient cultures at their most vulnerable; both food and shelter were limited. All times are local time ( CDT) for 3226'59.7"N, 9353'03.4"W. Partial Eclipse begins The Moon touches the Sun's edge. Upon flat terrain, the distance has to be within approximately 2km, although this varies based upon the observer's altitude and surrounding terrain). During Saturnalia festivities, Romans enjoyed banquets, gambling, jokes, gifts, and a tradition of usurping strict social structures. Descendant 5 26.Ascendant. Note: Read your Analemma to the nearest 0.5 degree., Using the Analemma . Yes, the solar declination angle does change daily. You'll get a detailed solution from a subject matter expert that helps you learn core concepts. [1] The angle of the collision and the size of the body (or bodies) which hit the Earth may have had a significant effect on its tilt and rotation speed (day length). [3] Select the date, time, and your time zone to compute the declination angle in the degree. Since the Earth is tilted on its axis and rotates every year, the angle of declination changes throughout the year. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. It will not change from place-to-place for the same UTC time. The Earth's axis rotates slowly westward about the poles of the ecliptic, completing one circuit in about 26,000 years. Earth rotates around its own axis. When we see a month with a lot of red displayed, you can be certain that there will be some intense moments throughout that month. This December solstice is called the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere, whereas in the southern, it is the summer solstice. Highlights. Which statement about the Vernal Equinox is correct? startxref The declination of Mars. The site is run by astrologer Annie Heese. 1387 Amsterdam buccaneer Herman of Kuinre signs loyalty vow for peace. The equation above gives a rough estimation of the value of solar declination on a particular day, where N is the number of days which have elapsed since 00:01am on 1st January i.e. Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. Again with respect to the celestial equator, the northern hemisphere experiences the longest daylight during the summer solstice. # = 23 2602100.448 000.46816 T +900.20cos(W)+000.57cos(2L0) (16) The latter two items are for nutation correction, which can also be ignored in further New! What Is Declination? The Earth rotates around the Sun like a spinning top. The Arctic and Antarctic circles today are 1.2 m (4 ft) closer to the poles, and the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn are equally closer to the equator . Choose the best possible answer. Solar Declination Solar declination is defined as " the angle between the Sun's rays and the equatorial plane ". Thus, in winters, the sun descends toward the horizon. An extreme example is the pole star which has a declination near to +90, so is circumpolar as seen from anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere except very close to the equator. National Geographic Society is a 501 (c)(3) organization. If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer. In Japan, midwinter (toji) is marked by traditional yuzuyu hot citrus baths. There are many known comets that are permanent members of the solar system . For instance an object marked as declination 5 would have an N.P.D. 2003-2023 Chegg Inc. All rights reserved. Because of this, the Sun moves more rapidly around the Sun in early January (perihelion Earth closest to the Sun) than it does in early July (aphelion Earth furthest from the Sun) and so changes in solar declination happen faster in January than they do in July. The declination angle becomes zero twice a year. Declination in astronomy is comparable to geographic latitude, projected onto the celestial sphere, and right ascension is likewise comparable to longitude. This requires a coordinate transformation. Solarsena.com is enrolled in the Amazon Affiliate program. Yuzuyu are practical as well as symbolic. I was part of the leadership team of GE Drilling & Subsea in Mexico and North Latam, upon Feb 2016. Instead, it has a tilt of around 23.44 (see the above figure). The value of is maximum (23.44) when the cosine is equal to the negative one. Whether you need help solving quadratic equations, inspiration for the upcoming science fair or the latest update on a major storm, Sciencing is here to help. Since it is South of the Zenith, we add the zenith distance to the declination to find our latitude: our latitude = the declination + the zenith distance = -17 + 39 = +22 (North latitude). For example, the number of days between January 1st and February 14th is 44. 50 - 23.5 = Noon Sun Angle Equation Noon Sun Angle = 90 - Zenith Angle Zenith Angle: Subsolar point & your location are in the same hemisphere, subtract! Some of the largest festivities of St. Johns Day take place as Festa Junina in Brazil. In Concord, NH in Summer you would do 43.208 - 15 = 28.208. As perihelion and aphelion occur around a couple of weeks after the solstices, there is some asymmetry in what would otherwise be a sine wave. 0000009987 00000 n In other places, midwinter celebrations are the last festivals before the long famine months of winter. Due to its association with fertility and abundance, midsummer is often associated with romance and marriage. Jupiter is likely to go out of bounds every six years, but does not always. 0000012404 00000 n the PSA algorithm below) is up to 1. The various ways of calculating the declination angle are graphed below using declination.py python code. google_ad_client = "pub-6551255594736534"; Atlanta,Gerorgia,USA 0.38 0.26 Brownsville,Texas,USA 0.35 0.31 BuuenosAires,Argentina 0.26 0.50 . Our goal is to make science relevant and fun for everyone. <<24CEF75FF6738F4496FA0D4C86DBCBBE>]>> The author shares his thoughts on solar technology on solarsena.com. The polar night surrounds the winter solstice, when the sun remains below the horizon during the weeks leading up to and following the event. These organs are more sensitive when the Moon is . Equatorial RegionsThe Equator, at 0 latitude, receives a maximum intensity of the suns rays all year. The declination angle () is as follows [8]: = 23.45 sin 2(248+n) 365 (2) Comet positions are computed from orbital elements published by the Minor Planet Center (MPC). Right Ascension and Declination of Sun for 2021. The rst type of method is to directly calculate the solar declination and equation of time with an empirical formula [5-10] and then calculate the sun position of the observation . Non members can search 7,954 locations from 242 countries worldwide. 0000000016 00000 n Magnetic declination, sometimes called magnetic variation, is the angle between magnetic north and true north. The solar elevation increases with the declination angle, and it is highest in months of summer. The declination reaches its maximum value, +23 17', on 21 June (the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere, the winter solstice in the southern hemisphere). We can calculate the solar declination angle for a particular time from the former formula. If you have questions about how to cite anything on our website in your project or classroom presentation, please contact your teacher. It varies due to the inclination of the earth's polar axis and its revolution around the sun. Polar RegionsThe subsolar point never reaches Arctic and Antarctic regions. However, try to avoid surgeries of the organs under the influence of the zodiac sign the Moon is in on the day of the surgery. 0000003054 00000 n The declination of the Sun is the measurement of the angle between the Suns rays and the Earths equatorial plane. Credits. In the northern hemisphere, the March equinox (March 20th) is called the spring or vernal equinox, and the September equinox (September 22nd (or 23rd)) is called the fall or autumnal equinox. The table below lists some examples. It comes from the same root as the words incline ("bend foward") and recline ("bend backward").[2]. The declination angle can be calculated by the equation 1: = - 23. We only require the number of days (d) to know the angle. On June 21, the summer solstice for the Northern Hemisphere, the northern end of the axis of rotation is pointing most directly toward the Sun, and the declination is 23.5. __Un g2-La1x,au{Z|tm1c~O-'zxSrq8\F}x In each declinations graph, you can see when it makes its maximum, whether up or down, and when it hits the center each month. 0000007858 00000 n However, the angle restricts itself between 23.44 and 23.44. These are only needed for concentrators that require more accurate tracking of the sun. The change in the Suns declination results in yearly cycles which are observed as each season progresses. The declination of Sirius is -17 (from the text), and its zenith distance is (90 - the altitude) = 90 - 51 = 39. The summer solstice is the longest day of the year, meaning it experiences the maximum intensity of the suns rays and has the most hours of sunlight. In some 18th and 19th century astronomical texts, declination is given as North Pole Distance (N.P.D. The derivation of the declination angle assumes a circular orbit and gives the following result: $$sin\ \delta=\sin{\left({-23.45}^0\right)}\cos{\left[\frac{360}{365}\left(d+10\right)\right]}$$. a c c r e t i o n [sed] ( a )The gradual or imperceptible increase or exten- a c c e s s o r y e l e m e n t trace element. Write this number down. At the north point, it is 90||, and at the south point, 90 + ||. It oscillates between these two numbers; it will never cross 23.44 or fall behind 23.44. Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service. Link: Analemma over New Jersey (Links to an external site.) The Sun will never appear beyond the maximum declination of 23 degrees 27 minutes. Early Christians adopted the timing of Saturnalia for two of their most important seasons, Advent and Christmas. It is the same across the earth for a given moment of time. A star's direction remains nearly fixed due to its vast distance, but its right ascension and declination do change gradually due to precession of the equinoxes and proper motion, and cyclically due to annual parallax. Point. She or he will best know the preferred format. Determine how many days have passed since January 1st. It happens on March 20th and September 22nd (or 23rd). Find the cosine of the result from Step 4. Declination, Latitude, & Earth Illumination. Coordinates from different epochs must be mathematically rotated to match each other, or to match a standard epoch. Love Cards Ask a question The top and bottom of an analemma mark the solstices. hobby caravan spares or repair; cincinnati cyclones roster; daniella karagach and pasha pashkov wedding. And it is negative for the rest of the portion of the year. Take note of dates that this is occurring as there will tend to be an extra emotional intensity during those periods, as well. 0000001172 00000 n MidwinterFollowers of many ancient traditions honored the winter solstice, which signaled the cold, winter season. See the Astrology of NOW: Current chart, planetary positions, and aspects with interpretations. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use. The graph below represents the variation in the solar declination angle with time. It will be different every single day. Since ancient times, many cultures have marked the solstices with holidays and festivals. The monthly averaged daily solar extra-terrestrial radiation 0000001304 00000 n for degrees can be difficult to type), On October 26th the sun present in the southern hemisphere, so the declination of the sun should be in negative. For information on user permissions, please read our Terms of Service. Note: Most fixed-tilt solar PV systems feature a tilt angle between 20-30. This is when they are neither above nor below the celestial equator (the middle line in the graph). It reverts to zero declination when fall equinox comes and drops to the negative 23.5 declination during the winter solstice. The graph at the bottom of the page is only for the planets shown on this page. Mars, our other close neighbor, has an axial tilt similar to Earth (24). 0000010372 00000 n At d= 355 (December 21st), the cosine equals the positive one, and = 23.44. 18 hours Universal Time corresponds to noon in the Central time zone of the United States when standard time is in effect. Deaths. Midsummer festivals are often celebrations of natures bounty. To use this graph, just find the planet(s) you are interested in and follow their positions in the graph. At the North Pole and South Pole, the solstices mark the time when the sun is highest or lowest in the sky. During the June solstice (marked between June 20 and June 22), solar declination is about 23.5N (the Tropic of Cancer). It is where the sun appears directly overhead at noon. In fact, they continually move up and down. It occurs at d= 172.5, which is around June 21st (summer solstice). Choose the best possible answer. The declination angle can also be defined in other ways. 50 - 23.5 = 26.5 Noon Sun Angle Equation Noon Sun . Points north of the celestial equator have positive declinations, while those south have negative declinations. Venus at superior solar conjunction: 28 Oct 2021 - Venus at dichotomy: 29 Oct 2021 - Venus at greatest elongation east: . The following equation gives a more accurate value of the declination angle. Planets travel in a 360-degree circle around the Sun, but they do not constantly stay at the same latitude. The value of the declination angle is 23.44. Not all planets transit into the extreme declinations. Add ten to the number of days passed. 2. SunPosition Calculator :: Contact :: Full Location List. The solar tree can be installed at one corner on the roof top of a building and rest Generic astronomy calculator to calculate times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset for many cities, with daylight saving time and time zones taken in account. This calculation is relatively simple and is accurate to within tenths of a degree. As we will show later in this article, the solar declination on any particular day of the year can be calculated, and that information together with your latitude can be used to calculate the solar elevation angle (the angle of the Sun above the horizon) at a given time on a given day in a given location very useful for calculating how much power a solar panel in a particular geographical location can hope to generate (other factors permitting) and the ideal solar panel mounting angle. (6 58'26 S 107 37'49 E), Indonesia. on the equatorial plane of the earth is called the declination angle. The June solstice is the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and the winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. Perhaps the most famous midwinter celebration is the Saturnalia of Ancient Rome. ** Hidek = High declinations of latitudes between 21 degrees and 23 degrees 27 minutes (2100' - 2327'), (To return to current month, click Go button. 0000010848 00000 n Table of the Sun's Declination Mean Value for the Four Years of a Leap Year Cycle Day JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC 1 S23 04' S17 20' S7 49' N4 18' N14 54' N21 58' N23 09' N18 10' N8 30' S2 57' S14 14' S21 43' 2 S22 59' S17 03' S7 26' N4 42' N15 12' N22 06' N23 05' N17 55' N8 09' S3 20' S14 34' S21 52' relative to the path it follows around the Sun. In astronomy, declination (abbreviated dec; symbol ) is one of the two angles that locate a point on the celestial sphere in the equatorial coordinate system, the other being hour angle. When you reach out to him or her, you will need the page title, URL, and the date you accessed the resource. It is what we called the solar declination angle. Throughout the year, this means that either the Northern or Southern Hemisphere is tilted toward the sun and receives the maximum intensity of the suns rays. The Declination Graph is another way of looking at aspects. Any two great circles intersect at two nodes. Extraterrestrial SolsticesEvery planet in our solar system experiences solstices. ), which is equivalent to 90 (declination). In the northern hemisphere, the declination angle for the summer solstice is 23.44, while in the southern hemisphere, it is 23.44. All rights reserved. 30.5 C in June, 29.6 C in July, 29.5 C in August, 29.5 C in September, 28.4 C in October, 24.3 C in November and 19.5 C in December. The Astrology of 2023: This Year in Astrology. its solar radiation data is of great importance for study of development of weather system during the year. The minimum value, 23 27', is reached on 20 December. Whether you are at the poles or the equator, the angle of declination will not change for the same UTC time. The Sun will never appear beyond the maximum declination of 23 degrees 27 minutes. St. John's DayOne of the most prevalent solstice celebrations is St. Johns Day, marked in the Christian calendar on the June solstice. 45 cos 360 365 d + 10 where d is the day of the year with Jan 1 as d = 1 The declination is zero at the equinoxes (March 22 and September 22), positive during the northern hemisphere summer and negative during the northern hemisphere winter. This principle is used to explain why we have different seasons, why there are four in some countries and there are only two in some. And before each hour from solar noon, the hour angle decreases by 15. !*XD"E0c`A0D (D 72ZE-7Qn3DE-J`&B1`XDhj"B-k<44(4-d2BM JjUPO/Y? for noon on the 1st January, N = 0, for noon on 2nd January, N = 1etc. Las Vegas, Nevada (36N) on December 21 (23.5S solar declination) Zenith angle = 36 - (-23.5) Zenith angle = 36 + 23.5 Zenith angle = 59.5 SAA = 90 - 59.5 SAA = 30.5 Q13. Although the tilt of the Earth's axis changes slowly over thousands of years, on smaller timescales it seems perfectly consistent, and the solar declination can be calculated based on what day of the year it is. In Concord, NH in Winter you would do 43.208 + 15 = 58.208. The points included in this transit list are: 2023 Astro Events On this page: Astrological events for 2023, including transits, eclipses, sign ingresses, and lunations (New Moon, Full 2023 Astrological Aspects Astrological transits for 2023, including transits of the Sun through Pluto (excluding the Moon) as well as 2022 Midpoint Transits Astrological transits for 2022 with hard aspects to midpoints. This equation treats the Earths orbit as being round rather than its true elliptical shape along with some other approximations which render it inaccurate by as much as 2 degrees (4 times the width of the Sun) at some times during the year. The minimum value, 23 27', is reached on 20 December. The solar declination varies from -23.44 at the (northern hemisphere) winter solstice, through 0 at the vernal equinox, to +23.44 at the summer solstice. Transport was slow, so it did not matter that the time in a town miles away varied by a few minutes. The value of the declination angle is 23.44, the lowest, on December 21st (or 22nd). The full calendar of months for 2023 Declination Graphs: From the excellent Day Watch software by Matrix. The subsolar point describes the latitude where the suns rays hit the Earth exactly perpendicular to the Earths surface. A declination circle represents the continuous position during a 24-hour period. For this calculator, latitude is positive to the NORTH, and longitude is positive to the WEST of the prime meridian. Events. Conversely, there are other stars that never rise above the horizon, as seen from any given point on the Earth's surface (except extremely close to the equator. (An ellipsoid is an approximation to sea level that is mathematically manageable). In the northern hemisphere, this day is called the summer solstice, while in the southern hemisphere is called the winter solstice. (This neglects the effect of atmospheric refraction.) The northern hemisphere and the southern hemisphere have always contradicting seasons. The solar declination angle is the angle between the rays of the sun and the equator of the earth. and the day length is independent of the solar declination (or season) and is always equal to 12 hr (on Earth), or 12.33 hr (on Mars). 0000004647 00000 n Therefore, equatorial coordinates (including declination) are inherently relative to the year of their observation, and astronomers specify them with reference to a particular year, known as an epoch. Solstices are known as midwinter and midsummer for this reason. Under this alternative coordinate system, the sun moves around the Earth. You cannot download interactives. NO! The subsolar point appears at the Equator twice a year (during the equinoxes), and migrates north and south across the tropics during the rest of the year. when the Sun crosses the equator on its northward passage, and has for the moment no declination , The entry of the Sun into the first point of Cancer, about . While, from October to March, seasonal optimal tilt angles vary between 15 0 to 23 0 . If you have questions about licensing content on this page, please contact ngimagecollection@natgeo.com for more information and to obtain a license. MidsummerMidsummer heralded the height of agricultural fertility and the slow onset of the harvestseason. So, the earth rotates 15 every single hour. fremont high school yearbook 2020; dave willis pastor quotes; rochester gymnastics academy. 0000014480 00000 n A good way to see the fluctuations of declination is to follow the Moon since the entire cycle of the Moon occurs every 28 days or so. 2023 Leaf Group Ltd. / Leaf Group Media, All Rights Reserved. What is the solar declination on October 26th? Anything north of the celestial equator has a northerly declination, marked with a positive sign. B. True North would be 10 E relative to the magnetic North direction given by the compass. Declination: The angle of difference between true North and magnetic North. Also, it revolves around our sun and has its own orbit. 0000016509 00000 n Asia Pacific; EMEA; Latin America; UK Solicitors; UK Bar; United States These aspects are similar to the conjunction and the opposition aspect. Members can currently search 48,113 locations from 242 countries worldwide. solar declination . For instance, if the declination at a certain point were 10 W, then a compass at that location pointing north (magnetic) would actually align 10 W of true North. are also often used in the literature. As a result, areas near Earths Equator experience relatively constant sunlight and little solstice variation. The solstices mark when the subsolar point reaches its northernmost and southernmost latitudes. For instance the SPA algorithm 2(http://www.psa.es/sdg/sunpos.htm) uses: dOmega=2.1429-0.0010394594*dElapsedJulianDays; dMeanLongitude = 4.8950630+ 0.017202791698*dElapsedJulianDays; // Radians dMeanAnomaly = 6.2400600+ 0.0172019699*dElapsedJulianDays; dEclipticLongitude = dMeanLongitude + 0.03341607*sin( dMeanAnomaly ) + 0.00034894*sin( 2*dMeanAnomaly )-0.0001134 -0.0000203*sin(dOmega); dEclipticObliquity = 0.4090928 - 6.2140e-9*dElapsedJulianDays +0.0000396*cos(dOmega); dSin_EclipticLongitude= sin( dEclipticLongitude ); dY = cos( dEclipticObliquity ) * dSin_EclipticLongitude; dRightAscension = atan2( dY,dX ); if( dRightAscension < 0.0 ) dRightAscension = dRightAscension + twopi; dDeclination = asin( sin( dEclipticObliquity )*dSin_EclipticLongitude ); dElapsedJulian days is the number of days since January 1, 2000 and dDeclination is the resulting declination. A positive value means the Sun is north of the Earths equator, and a negative value means the Sun is South of the equator. Right Ascension and Declination of Sun for 2022 18 hours Universal Time corresponds to noon in the Central time zone of the United States when standard time is in effect. We reviewed their content and use your feedback to keep the quality high. The declination angle is almost independent of your location. Noon Sun Angle Equation Noon Sun Angle = 90 - Zenith Angle Zenith Angle: Subsolar point & your location are in the same hemisphere, subtract! The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year and has the fewest hours of daylight. On Earth, solstices are twice-yearly phenomena in which solar declination reaches the Tropic of Cancer in the north and the Tropic of Capricorn in the south. We can calculate the solar declination angle using the following formula: In the above formula, d is the number of days since January 1st (UTC 00:00:00). The instant of greatest eclipse takes place on 2022 Oct 25 at 11:01:20 TD (11:00:09 UT1). 27 0 obj <>stream The December solstice is the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and the summer solstice in the Southern.The Science of Solstices Earths latitudes experience the solstices in different ways. The equation also assumes that the suns orbit is a perfect circle and the factor of 360/365 converts the day number to a position in the orbit. The seasonal variation of the declination angle is shown in the animation below. 29 October 2021: Venus is bright and well placed in the evening sky. Since the Earth is tilted on its axis and rotates every year, the angle of declination changes throughout the year. When planets are transiting through the upper portions of the Hidek**, within a degree of transiting Out of Bounds, they will appear in red. However, the Earths orbit around the Sun is not perfectly circular it is actually elliptical. Menu Home; Rankings. If no button appears, you cannot download or save the media. (The only times of the year when the intensity of the suns rays is not unequal are the appropriately named equinoxes. It is the reason why in summer, we tilt our solar panels at lower angles. google_ad_width = 468; These "ups and downs" are measured as the distance between a planet's current position and the earth's equator (as projected into the sky). On this day, the earth is in the north of the sun. Today, on March 2, 2023 at noon, Earth's axial tilt, or mean obliquity was 23.43627 or 2326'10.5". See Answer What is the solar declination on October 26th? Note that the values are given in decimal degrees for example, +7.72 which is equivalent to +743 (7 degrees and 43 minutes). But, the spinning Earth tilts at an angle of 23.45 (2-3-4-5, so an easy number to remember!) For instance, Vega's declination is +38 47 1, while Alpha Centauri's is -60 50 2. During the spring and summer months, and part of autumn it corresponds to 1 PM Central Daylight Time. The variation in solar declination is the astronomical description of the sun going south (in the northern hemisphere) for the winter. Ancient European tribes celebrated midsummer with feasts and bonfires, intended to drive away evil spirits. Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, appeared soon after the summer solstice.