Sun appears to be in different position in the sky

I've decided to jump into the fray and offer my very first topic for discussion. Having been a member of ATS for some time now and unafraid to posit my opinion on various subjects, I've now found myself in need of discussing a strange occurrence/observation that has to do with the perceived position of the Sun and heat emanating from it.

First, a little discussion preface. Many of us commute to work or school at a regular time, following a usual path, at a usual speed, while driving, walking, or cycling as the case may be. This path of travel becomes familiar in the sense that you can expect certain things to be the same and when they are not, they become remarkable. For example, you always drive past a school who's school speed limit sign has a flashing light that is always on when you pass it. Then one day, that flashing light is not illuminated as usual and you wonder why but then, put the unusual experience in the back of your mind and move forward with your day. Some things you observe/experience during your commute are highly remarkable that causes you in some cases, to bring it up to others. For example, you witness or come upon a serious motor vehicle accident. Finally, you may experience those things that are subtle enough not to cause you to bring it up in early conversation but, significant enough to remember when another event appears to correlate with it. My experience this past weekend was of the last variety.

My commute to work takes about 15 minutes and it is always begins approximately at 07:30. On one particular part of my path, I am driving almost due East and I find that at certain times throughout the year, the Sun will be directly in my line of sight and lower on the horizon which would cause me shield my eyes from it (sun visor, sun glasses, etc) as I travel. This past Thursday, 19 April 2012, I was travel at my usual time down my usual path when I found myself having to shield my eyes from the Sun. As I said before it is not unusual for me to do so except that I had become accustomed to not having issues with the Sun's position over the past few weeks and now, it was somehow...different. Now, I am the first to suggest that my recollection of this "event" could be flawed and perhaps my eyes were hypersensitive that morning or that I was simply not as aware of the Sun's location on the horizon. Anyway, as I mentioned earlier, this was subtle enough not to immediate comment to anyone but, when my wife made a similar observation on her commute, I found myself thinking that something is different. Note: my wife also drives to work on a usual schedule, roadway, and speed, and also finds herself driving nearly due East on a portion of her commute.

There was another likely unrelated occurrence of which I feel is worth sharing here. This weekend, the family and I played and worked in our yard in the mid to late afternoon and it seemed that the Sun's rays were stronger somehow. They seemed "hotter" to us. We didn't get any sunburns to speak of and the outside temperature did not exceed 85 degrees F in my area. However, we felt like the Sun was more brighter and more intense. Overall, it was a beautiful weekend and I'm glad to have been outside enjoying it but, it is a little odd that these several observations would come so close together.

These are the reasons I've decided to submit this topic for discussion. Ultimately, I want to know if anyone had also experienced this over the past week and if so, what were your thoughts about the experience? For reference, I live about 20 miles Southeast of downtown Houston, Texas.

ESV

Well I'm sure you have realized this, but we are now approaching summer.

As we get closer and closer to summer the Sun tends to rise higher and higher above the horizon

and as we approach winter the opposite happens and the sun gets lower,

these are cycles and they happen every year

reply to post by ExScientiaVeritas


Hey, check out this thread I did on the subject:

The sun is exactly where it should be!

This weekend I observed the sun starting to set in late afternoon and immediatly thought wow, it sure looks more north for April than I had rembered in the past.

But I've never measured it before, maybe I'll do that this year and compare it to next year.

reply to post by ExScientiaVeritas


Isn't the earth 7 degrees off tilt from all the earthquakes last year?
Couldn't that show the sun in different positions?

The sun is moving each day, or at least it appears to move in the sky from our perspective - it would make sense that one day it would pop out from behind a building or mountain peak as it travels further and further north across the horizon.

This is pretty basic stuff, and 50 years of science shows that we are actually receiving LESS sunlight each year.

I'm sorry, but you are wrong that the sun is brighter and in the wrong place in the sky. Here are some links to some basic information (seems I am posting this stuff once a week on ATS)

cse.ssl.berkeley.edu...

www.guardian.co.uk...

en.wikipedia.org...


You should get Stellarium or Google Sky Map or one of the many others, you can see where the Sun should be and compare with where it actually is. My first link also gives you a pretty simple experiment you can try at home to verify that the sun is moving in it's normal course across the sky.

reply to post by ExScientiaVeritas


Too be honest I would put this down to an error on your part. We all make mistakes like this from time to time.

Where I live there are megalithic tombs, which contain chambers and passages that are aligned to allow the sun's rays to strike certain clearly marked parts of inner walls at, for example, the shortest day of the year.

If the sun ever deviated from it's normal course these well watched and noted calendrical solar events would not happen.

reply to post by ExScientiaVeritas


My instincts are that something is going on with the Sun? I think there are allot of things that are not being covered on the News. I live in NC.

Yeah, and i love it.

It's the nice sign of SUMMERTIME

reply to post by Kr0nZ


Yes, I most definitely realize that the Sun's movement is cyclical. For this time of year in the Northern hemisphere the Sun should be getting higher in the sky at the same time of day. If we were coming into Winter, I wouldn't give it another thought. That's what has thrown me a bit. Again, this is one of those things that I might have put out of my mind but, since the wife and I both independently made the same basic observation, it makes me wonder if, A: the Sun (or likely the Earth) is experiencing more dramatic movement than usual, or B: something in the perception of both my wife and I has been altered such that we believe the Sun appears to be lower in the sky than usual.

I am not one to make hasty assumptions and have always been one to seek out truth however, unlikely or unpopular.

ESV

reply to post by Chadwickus


I remember that thread Chadwickus. Some good information there. That's what got me bothered because, I am reasonably certain that the rising and setting of the Sun is and has been very regular. But then again, I wonder if much of the scientific solar movement observations account for minute changes that occur?

ESV

Originally posted by TinkerHaus

I'm sorry, but you are wrong that the sun is brighter and in the wrong place in the sky. Here are some links to some basic information (seems I am posting this stuff once a week on ATS)

edit on 23-4-2012 by TinkerHaus because: (no reason given)

TinkerHaus, you telling me that I'm wrong has no constructive merit to my question. As I stated in agreement with Chadwickus, I too believe that the Sun is generally acting as is has been and should be. My question is directly related to my perception of the Sun by my eyes and on my skin. Clearly, these are not empirical measurements and cannot be quantified. I get that much. I am attempting to address the non-scientific observational experience.

ESV

Originally posted by ExScientiaVeritas

Originally posted by TinkerHaus

I'm sorry, but you are wrong that the sun is brighter and in the wrong place in the sky. Here are some links to some basic information (seems I am posting this stuff once a week on ATS)

edit on 23-4-2012 by TinkerHaus because: (no reason given)

TinkerHaus, you telling me that I'm wrong has no constructive merit to my question. As I stated in agreement with Chadwickus, I too believe that the Sun is generally acting as is has been and should be. My question is directly related to my perception of the Sun by my eyes and on my skin. Clearly, these are not empirical measurements and cannot be quantified. I get that much. I am attempting to address the non-scientific observational experience.

ESV

I gave you a solution to test your theory. Your perception is not reality, but your reality is your perception.

The sun feels normal to me, and based on the location given in the OP I'm not more than a few hundred miles northwest of you. I plant a garden every year, and have done so for years. This year is definitely warmer, but the sun is right where it should be. My sundial confirms this.

I gave you evidence that 50 years of water pan evaporation (there are other tests as well) proves that we are actually receiving LESS sunlight than we historically have. This is due to a massive amount of particulate in the atmosphere that wasn't there before (look into it, global warming deniers).

Anyway, I wasn't trying to be rude but I was trying to offer you some empirical evidence that shows what you are claiming to have experienced is not true. The entire EARTH can see/feel the sun, and the only people claiming it's not in the right spot in the sky are loony bins on conspiracy websites. That alone is a good indicator that this idea is pure bologna.

So if you wanted to talk about your experience, and ignore scientific measurements that prove the sun is right where it should be, you should have said so in the OP. I was merely trying to give you good evidence that what you perceived is not what is actually happening.

To me, the sun seems to be setting much further to the north than usual.

I used to drive the same route every morning to work just as the sun was rising in mid-summer. Like clockwork, the sun would rise and the glare would blind me on a short stretch of road every morning. (this was years ago)

Last night I was driving down this particular road at sunset and the sun was setting near the exact same spot where it used to rise! This makes it even more puzzling as it is only April and not mid-summer.

I know I'm not going crazy, or losing my perspective.

Funny though, that during the sunset on a clear evening, a lone jet (with a route not standard at this time)had it's contrails flying directly over the setting sun. Created quite the haze around it. Nowhere else though. Hmm.

ETA; I did read Chadwickus's thread about the sun being exactly where it should be. This is what gets me. Scientists haven't noticed this.
Everywhere else seems normal.

I'm thinking my position on a northernly latitude has some bearing on the illusion.

Light refraction due to atmospheric anomalies is the most culpable explanation.

But why is this not being discussed. Oh yeah,....Canandian scientists testing our atmosphere are on a gag order by our current administration.


www.thestar.com...

reply to post by ExScientiaVeritas


It is normal even though i never realized the big difference of distance over the horizon, imo. All i know, Winter is right here.

Sunset, last month.




Where it is setting now, photo from yesterday. And where it (black arrow) use to set from my view.

reply to post by ExScientiaVeritas


You been a member sense 2009, im surprised you made this thread. you will be shilled to death. However I also notice the solar system looking different then its normal prior years. Maybe has something to do with the planetary alignment?

reply to post by KaelemJames


At least now we know the perspective from the Southern hemisphere! Perspective is a very personal thing and my reason for asking about this in this forum, is simply because of its reach. Thanks for your feedback and pics!

ESV

Originally posted by lbndhr
reply to post by ExScientiaVeritas

 

You been a member sense 2009, im surprised you made this thread. you will be shilled to death. However I also notice the solar system looking different then its normal prior years. Maybe has something to do with the planetary alignment?

What bothers me is that I'm a proof first kind of guy and for me to create such a thread seems a bit unreasonable. However, I cannot overlook what I perceive. There are too many unknowns in this world to simply limit our thinking to what we think we know and understand. That in itself, is reason enough to endure the slings and arrows of the so-called shills. As long as we can maintain decorum, I think this will be a useful discussion!

ESV

If you actually took a bit of time to learn about the very environment that shapes your life before making a post like this then you would realize how absolutely ludicrious this is.

Thousands of astronomers around the planet would be instantly in a frenzy, planetarium software would no longer be accurate, the solar observation probes would no longer be pointing at the sun, etc, etc, etc.

This is not something that would go unnoticed by everyone except you. Get a grip. Do your research before posting so you don't get ripped apart on here and so you don't make the rest of us on ATS look like loonies.

reply to post by ExScientiaVeritas


No problem at all, only a pleasure.

I myself are a bit "confused" as i have never seen such a huge shift when it comes to Winter. I was telling my fiance yesterday, and she was flabbergasted when seeing the difference.

I, too, wanted to start a thread but did some research first and could not find anything (nor pictures) other than diagrams to satisfy my curiosity. Thus far i can only say it is normal, but i never knew nor have i seen such a distance in the the sun setting. But, i am no astrologist or weather fundi, so i cannot argue.