> Steve, > You missed Gianni's point, wonderfully expressed, that there is a point at > the pole at which the height of the sun does not vary during the day. If the > height of the sun varies during the day, you are not at the pole. You might > be only a metre away, but that's not close enough. (This assumes that you > can measure the sun's altitude very accurately.) > So, as Gianni explained, at the very spot that is the north or south pole, > noon is meaningless and/or arbitrary. > Re-read his posting. To my mind the exquisite humour heightens the vividness > of his explanation. > > Chris Lusby Taylor > Newbury > 51.4N, 1.3W
Chris, Am I not right in thinking that at the pole itself, the height of the Sun spirals either up (from spring equinix to summer solstice) or down (from summer solstice to autumn equinox), if only so marginally that you may find it difficult to measure the daily increments, which are due to the changes in the Sun's declination? But the 'fine threads' of that spiral seem to suggest that, strictly speaking, the altitude of the Sun during that one day does change, if only marginally. Or am I making a mistake here? Heiner Thiessen 51 00 43 N 00 56 38 W > > > > - -
