Spectacular DIY Science Experiment

[bpamplin]

We all know that if you take a pictures of the sun at some time like 4PM, ignoring daylight savings time, it will be higher in the sky in summer and very low in winter. But did you know that due to the earth’s tilt and orbit, it appears to shift a bit north and south as well. 36 photos were taken during the year to form the analemma (figure 8), and 31 photos during one single day to form the horizontal track,

How is your level of patience in waiting a few hours or days to see results of an experiment? Can you handle a year? The DMS roof would be an excellent location. The overall photo would not be great but we are talking science here, not art.

Using a pinhole camera like the second link, calibration could be done in an afternoon with an exposure every 30 minutes at increasing longer times. At sundown, pull the results and shift the camera if you need to repeat. From my photography days, I recall undeveloped print paper that would darken when exposed to light. This seems to be the same effect in a pinhole camera. No chemicals, no negative. @Josh_Melnick @artg_dms @Kevin

https://spaceweathergallery.com/index.php?title=anale
https://spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=131915&PHPSESSID=epnfdvut7hbf5oaek76ijcpu60 This link gives a good short explanation of technique.

[David_A_Tucker]

Just get me a photo from the DMS roof. I can do it in 15 minutes with Photoshop – saving you a lot of time and effort.

[bpamplin]

… and stay inside, out of the weather, no risk of falling or a battery failing. If you could make the figure eight a bit wider, that would help. Also, almost instant gratification!

[tomthm]

Cool link! Does anyone else see the Statue of Liberty crown?

[darrent]

“stay inside, out of the weather, no risk of falling or a battery failing”

It’s actually on my forever long list of things to do. A few years back (pre-makerspace days for me) I turned my dinning room into an indoor sundial - there’s a mirror in the window sill that reflects light on to the walls and ceiling as the Sun moves throughout the day.

Here’s a recent still I have. In years past I’ve made a few animated gifs for the motion throughout the day. I have yet to make a photo showing the anelema pattern that forms when taking the photo at the same time of day throughout the year.

[bpamplin]

That is a neat idea. If my hobby room were on the south side, I wold probably do that and have little tabs pinned to the ceiling showing time. To do that every few months would be interesting but make people wonder about me even more!

I run a bunch of Arduino classes. If you want a device to trigger a shutter on schedule, let me know. If you promise to post results, I’ll loan you one for a few months or show you how to build a $10.00 one.

Custom sundials must be designed for the latitude an longitude where they will be mounted. They can be from a few inches high to the side of a building. Materials can be wood, steel, acrylic, ceramic and who knows what else. I don’t recall seeing one at DMS. There is money to be made also.

[darrent]

If my hobby room were on the south side, I wold probably do that and have little tabs pinned to the ceiling showing time.

The south facing window is precisely why I chose our dining room. But because it was the dinning room, I couldn’t leave the stickers all over the wall and thus had an artist come and paint the room.

Here’s a before and after …

Materials can be wood, steel, acrylic, ceramic and who knows what else. I don’t recall seeing one at DMS.

Another pre-makerspace sundial for my wife’s aunt and uncle made from bathroom tiles. It’s roughly 2’ x 3’ and hangs over the entrance to their garden.

I have also used poplar and cedar. Like pretty much everyone else at the makerspace, there’s just not enough time to make the projects I want to make. On my personal list of sundials that would make use of the 'space resources: stained glass and also stainless steel.

[Bill]

We all know that if you take a pictures of the sun at some time like 4PM, ignoring daylight savings time, it will be higher in the sky in summer and very low in winter. But did you know that due to the earth’s tilt and orbit, it appears to shift a bit north and south as well.

The direction of the sunlight coming in my east facing windows in the morning vary quite significantly between summer and winter.