COLORADO — We get plenty of sunny days in Colorado. You probably know that we have longer days in the summer, and shorter days in the winter. But, the path the Sun takes through Colorado's sky is more interesting then that.
For example, some common things you've been told about the way the sun moves aren't entirely accurate. The Sun does not rise in the east and set in the west: sunrise and sunset position varies throughout the year. Also, if you were to take a picture of the Sun at the same time of day each year, it wouldn't be in the same spot each day. It also wouldn't be a vertical line, a circle, or an oval. It makes a figure eight!
HOW HIGH THE SUN GETS IN THE SKY IN COLORADO EACH DAY
The path the Sun takes through the sky is called the ecliptic. Because the Earth is tilted at 23.5 degrees, one hemisphere of the planet is pointing toward the Sun, and one away from the sun throughout the year.
From our perspective, we see this as the Sun is getting higher up in the sky as we head toward summer, and lower in the winter. The peak height the sun reaches in Colorado's sky on a given day is called the zenith.
In early May, the sun gets to around a 68 degree angle above the ground in southern Colorado. For comparison - at the summer solstice, it's 75 degrees, and at the winter solstice, it's 28 degrees (90 would be straight up).
This is when the Sun's rays are strongest and when you'll get a sunburn the fastest. Here's another myth to debunk, it's not at noon! On May 8 in Colorado Springs, it's at 12:55 p.m. As far as the Sun is concerned, 12:30 p.m. is still the morning.
Three reasons:
- We're on daylight saving time.
- Time zones are wide. Solar noon is earlier to our east and later to the west, according to your watch.
- The final part is more complicated. In short, the length of a day varies a little bit throughout the year, but your watch doesn't.
THE SUN RISES AND SETS NORTHEAST/WEST IN THE SUMMER AND SOUTHWEST/EAST IN THE WINTER
Our two equinoxes, in March and September, are when the sun with cross directly overhead at the equator. Between March and September, that direct sunlight is north of the equator. That's because our planet is tilted, and the northern half of the planet is tilted toward the Sun. Because of this, the Sun rises and sets in the north! It rises in the northeast, and sets in the northwest in Colorado between the two equinoxes.
WHY THE PATH THE SUN TAKES AT NOON THROUGH THE SKY IS A FIGURE EIGHT
The only time of year the Sun actually rises and sets "east" and "west" are on the equinoxes themselves, when the "tilt" of the Earth is not pointed toward or away from the Sun.
All of this matters because it explains is why our days between mid-March and mid-September are longer than 12 hours. When you put it all together, because the Earth is tilted as it orbits the Sun, we get the seasons, and the weather that we are familiar with. It also means the path of the sun through Colorado's sky through the year looks like this.
Yep, a figure eight. It's a combination of everything we just talked about. The change in height of the sun through the year, the slight variation in length of a day and what time solar noon is. The interesting thing is, this path, called an analemma, is different all over the Earth. In Colorado, it's shorter at the top and long and wide at the bottom.
In Colorado's winter, the Earth is closer to the Sun, and travels faster, so it "covers more ground." This track is basically showing us the Earth's orbit around the Sun. If the Earth were not tilted, it'd be an oval. Because it is tilted, it's a figure eight.
WHY THE CHANGE IN THE SUN'S PATH THROUGH THE SKY MATTERS
The biggest thing that the Sun, and its movement, does for us, is create the weather that we see. Every meteorologist learns, in their first class, the weather exists to transport energy from where we have more, to where we have less. The Sun provides more direct light and heat at the equator, and less at the poles. In Colorado, the imbalance between the energy at the equator and poles are what produce everything from blizzards, to severe thunderstorms, to intense winds. All of that would be gone if the Earth wasn't tilted, the days didn't get longer or shorter, and the Sun didn't make interesting patterns in the sky.
The first 8:00 p.m. or later sunset in 2024 in Colorado Springs is on Friday, May 10. The last one will be on Friday, August 9.
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