Celestial > Sun Tracker
Vector > Celestial > Sun Tracker
Description
You can plot the position of the Sun for the time-value that the program is currently using, as set in the 'Date Time' tab-page of the 'Settings Menu'. This may be the current time (recommended), or a fixed value, an offset value, or a loop between specified limits. You can choose to show the Sun position, and also the track of the Sun for the current date, and also the Sun-Analemma, which marks the position of the Sun over 365 days for the current Time. It is interesting to turn on the 'Base Lines' map-layer, and see how the Analemma is positioned between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, and note how the sun moves up and down the Analemma over the period of a year.
The 'Sun Tracker' Map Layer is a Vector Layer composed of Points, Lines, and Labels, so the Style for each of these can be changed as desired by opening the 'Layers Menu', clicking the wanted layer on the left, then clicking the relevant panel controls on the right.
The 'Point' controls the display of the Sun icon. You can adjust its size by changing the Point Size, and its color by changing the Point color.
The 'Lines' control the display of both the Sun Track and the Sun Analemma, with settings for color and line-width available. You can control if the Sun Track and the Sun Analemma are shown with the Layer Features.
The 'Labels' controls the label that is shown adjacent to the Sun. It shows the current Sun position in degrees over the earth's surface.
When viewing the 'Sun Tracker' map-layer, you might also find it useful to see additional Solar information by typing 'IE' to view the Info Bar's 'Solar Info' page. The page shows a list of useful Solar Information for the User Location, as entered in the 'User' tab-page of the 'Settings Menu', and the date and time values that the program is currently using, as set in the 'Date Time' tab-page of the 'Settings Menu'. This may be the current time (recommended), or a fixed value, an offset value, or a loop between specified limits.
The User Solar Information shown is: Latitude, Longitude, Grid Locator, Time Zone, Local Time, Dawn, Sunrise, Postrise, Preset, Sunset, Dusk, Solar Midnight, Moonrise, Moonset, Sun Altitude, Sun Azimuth, Sun Posn: Lat, Sun Posn: Lon, Sun Posn: GridLoc, Current Total Daylight, Zodiac Sign, Spring Equinox Date, Spring Equinox Time, Summer Solstice Date, Summer Solstice Time, Fall Equinox Date, Fall Equinox Time, Winter Solstice Date, Winter Solstice Time as well as Total Daylight Values for all the Equinox Periods: Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, Fall Equinox, Winter Solstice.
There is also a Polar Map centered on your location, that shows three tracks: the Sun Path at the Summer Solstice (Orange), the Sun Path at the Winter Solstice (Green), and the Sun Path for the current date and program-time (Yellow), with an icon showing the current Sun position. Note that if the sun is not available for the date/time/location, or is up all day, the tracks will not be shown.
You can also click the text-area to show a small window with an expanded color 3D view of the sun-tracks, in a format that is much easier to visualize. The view is centered on your User Location, and shows the same three tracks, and the current sun position. There are two controls: 'Elv' that adjusts the elevation of the plot (2°-90°), and 'Rot' that rotates the plot clockwise (0°-90°).