The SR/SS table for the 23rd of February at latitude 40°N gives:
SR = 06:44, SS = 17:44
At 12:00 Central European Time (UTC +1) at 40°N the Sun…
Refer to figure.
This is a poorly written and conceptually complicated question. Thankfully it doesn't seem to appear too frequently on exams. We are given some information, and asked to figure out where the sun is rising/setting. What we need to know:
- Sunrise and sunse occur at every longitude every day (Except above 66.5°N and 66.5°S).
- For a given latitude, the sun will rise and set at the same time at every longitude that day.
- The Earth rotates at a rate of 15°/hr, so if we know the time at one longitude, we can figure out the Local Mean Time at every other longitude using 15° = 1hr.
- Sunrise and sunset times are typically measured in LMT.
We can then use the sunrise/sunset time for that day to figure out where they are occurring.
At 1200 CET (UTC + 1), the time at the Greenwich Meridian is 1100 UTC, which is also the Local Mean Time (LMT) at the Greenwich Meridian (0° E/W). So at 0° E/W it is 1100 LMT.
SUNRISE
For this latitude, sunrise occurs at an LMT of 06:44
The time difference between 06:44 and 11:00 is 4 h 16 min (earlier). Using the conversion factor of 15° = 60 minutes, we can calculate the time difference:
- 4 h 16 min x 15° = 64°
Since the sunrise occurs earlier than 1100 LMT, it must be located 64° to the west of the Greenwich Meridian. Therefore, the sun rises at 64º W when it is 1200 CET.
SUNSET
Sunset is at 17:44, which is 6 h 44 min later than 11:00 LMT. This corresponds with:
6 h 44 min x 15° = 101°E
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