Chris Lusby Taylor wrote:

> Dear Fernando,
> Thank you for your wonderful, heart-warming story. I know exactly how you
> feel.

Thank you.

> I am puzzled by only one thing: Why was the sun rising above a house SOUTH
> of yours? Shouldn't that be EAST?
>

Sorry for not being clear enough. My lot is not in a perfect East-West
Direction. In this seasonthe sun rises further to the South which means in the
first hours of the day its light is blocked
by a house that is next to mine, in the South direction (in fact, more
Southeast). See the
most crude diagram bellow.

                                  N
     +--------------------+
W  |                                |
      |      sd                MH|
     +--------------------+
      |                        NH  |
      |                                |
     +--------------------+                    s
        S

sd is the place where I am drawing the compass rose with cardinal lines; MH is
my house
and NH is my neighbor's house. s is the sun.
Things are so disposed that after a certain date (some time
in September), if I am in my backyard (particularly at sd)
I'll see the sun rising from behind his house.

> Your English is excellent. May I point out just one slight mistake which I
> believe you made. You refer to a "vertical inclining dial" where I think
> you mean a declining dial. It is most unfortunate that we use the word
> 'declination' to mean two unrelated things - the orientation of a vertical
> dial and the distance between the equator and a heavenly body such as the
> sun. The quite unrelated meanings of 'analemma' and 'analemmatic' could
> cause similar problems.

You are absolutely right. I meant to say "declining". I noticed I had madethat
mistake when I arrived home and started doing some calculation
for the other sides of the square column. When I opened Albert E. Waugh's
"Sundials - Their Theory and Construction" on chapter 10 (Vertical Declining
Dials) I detected my mistake... Too late.

Thank you.


- fernando


>
>
> Best wishes
> Chris Lusby Taylor
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From:   Fernando Cabral [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent:   06 October 1998 18:23
> To:     sundial@rrz.uni-koeln.de
> Subject:        Chronicle on sundialling
>
> Dear Fellows in sundialling
>
> Based on certain accidental discoveries I had made yesterday, I waked up
> a
> little earlier this morning and walked to my back yeard to prepare for
> the
> sun to rise above the ceiling of a house south to mine.
> <snip>
>
> Now I was there, steping on a North-South line, facing the rising sun
> whose Azimuth was... 90 degrees.
>
> <snip>



--
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]              http://www.pix.com.br
Fernando Cabral                         Padrao iX Sistemas Abertos
[EMAIL PROTECTED]                     [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Fone: +55 61 321-2433                   Fax: +55 61 225-3082
19º 37' 57.0" S                         45º 17' 13.6" W
15º 45' 04.9" S                         47º 49' 58.6" W

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