22 September 2009 by Tristan Gooley
At eighteen minutes past ten tonight, neither the north pole nor the south will be pointing towards or away from the sun and the sun will be overhead the equator. It is the autumnal equinox and the sun will spend the next six months overhead the southern hemisphere. During this time it will rise south of east and set south of west.
To celebrate this I headed up to one of my favourite spots last night, Halnaker Windmill, and took this photo. The clouds and light were doing extraordinary things, one of which I am still investigating and will hopefully be able to reveal more about.
Tags: autumnal equinox, halnaker windmill, southern hemisphere, sun |
18 August 2008 by Tristan Gooley
I’ve been reading accounts from British light aircraft pilots who have experienced difficulty in orienting themselves when flying in the southern hemisphere. The reason for this ‘wrongwayitis’ is fairly well understood and stems from the disagreement, usually subconscious, of where we expect to see the sun relative to our travel and where it actually is.
I was a bit shocked this afternoon when returning from Southampton airport to discover that I was experiencing a similar sensation, a feeling of ‘wrongwayitis’. I was driving through heavy rain and the signs told me clearly that I was heading the right way, or roughly east along the M27. There were even natural clues confirming it at the roadside in the shape of trees. Rationally I knew that I was heading the right way and yet the feeling of wrongwayitis persisted for several minutes. A casual glance revealed that the sky was indeed brighter…
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Tags: difficulty in orienting, light aircraft pilots, right way, southern hemisphere, wrongwayitis |
