Backyard Compass - Winter Solstice

Further to our previous Backyard Compass entries, we were blessed with some clear noon skies this week to create the last installment.  Here's a snap of my son Happy showing his shadow around noon near the Winter Solstice.  Note how long his shadow is, especially compared to the previous summer and autumn shots. 

Noon shadows around the shortest day of the year are nealy twice as long as the height of the persons or objects casting them.  This is because the Sun is very low in the noon sky at this time.

The pic was snapped on December 17, which is close enough to the actual solstice so that any difference would be very small.  Happy needed to stand in the Sun next to the actual standing stone, since the pine tree in our backyard covered the compass.  The standing stone and the "North" marker stone are indicated with red circles to make them more clear, since we had a big snow storm the day before.  (BTW, these shots were taken from our second storey bedroom window, overlooking our backyard in Cleveland, Ohio.) 

The seasonal changes in the shadows are among the many thing your homescholar can learn from Signs & Seasons, our Christian homeschool astronomy curriculum.

Coment for the page

9:09 PM, Thursday, February 14, 2008
Posted by Anonymous

The whole web page was great and I really understood what you were saying. Keep up the good work!

Excellent!

11:45 PM, Saturday, March 1, 2008
Posted by Steve

Jay - excellent project, pics, and description. Man, I don't miss the snow in Cleveland, though :-)

I like this because it's very graphic and gives the kids a sense that research can take time. It's not a 'one nighter.'

Keep up the good work.

Cheers!