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Old 08-30-2006, 01:50 AM  
szango420
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Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Colorado
Posts: 244
astronomy or math wizards? does this make sense?

Does this make sense? im trying to find the maximum altitude of the sun on the winter solstice (dec 21) at 40 degrees latitude..

MY ANSWER:
On the winter solstice the maximum altitude of the sun is at the zenith (90 degrees) at the latitude of 23.44 south. That means to find the maximum altitude of the sun at the equator you would subtract 23.44 degrees from the zenith and get 66.56 degrees. Likewise, to find the maximum altitude of the sun at latitude 40 degrees north, you would subtract 40 more degrees making the maximum altitude of the sun at the winter solstice 26.56 degrees.
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