The Sun's Path at Different Lunar Latitudes

  • Released Wednesday, October 5th, 2022
  • Updated Wednesday, November 15th, 2023 at 12:18AM
  • ID: 5038

The path of the Sun in the lunar sky is shown at four latitudes, including the South Pole. An arrow points toward the Sun. Annotations include the subsolar longitude and the elapsed time in Earth days.

On both the Earth and the Moon, the apparent path of the Sun in the sky during the day depends on the observer's latitude. At most latitudes, the Sun rises above the eastern horizon in the morning, arcs through the sky toward a peak altitude at local noon, then sinks below the western horizon in the evening, the only difference being the steepness of the arc. The Sun's apparent motion at the poles is markedly different, particularly on the Moon, which is tilted only 1.5° relative to the Sun.

This visualization compares Sun views from four latitudes on the Moon over the course of a lunar day. The two views in the upper half of the frame are from Apollo landing sites. The lower left shows a latitude much higher than any Apollo landing, while the lower right is the view from the South Pole, where rather than rising and setting, the Sun travels in a complete circle, skimming low over the horizon. The yellow arrow points toward the Sun, locating it even when it's hidden below the horizon or outside the image frame. The sidebar shows the direction of the Sun's rays in a view from Earth, as well as the elapsed time in Earth days.

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NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

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