where did the analemma come from?

Answer 1

If you note where the sun is at noon every day (and take account of daylight savings time), the path that the sun traces in the sky over the course of a year is the analemma.

Answer 2

The analemma is an effect that occurs as a result of the elliptical orbit of the earth around the sun combined with its tilt. There are two loops of the figure eight shape of the analemma. The bottom loop is much larger because druing the southern hemisphere summer, the earth is closer to the sun and moving faster in its orbit around the sun, so the shifting of the sun's postion in the sky is more pronounced than in the norther hemispherical summer in which the earth is farther away from the sun and moving more slowly. That accounts for the different is the loop sizes. The shapes are more or less the same because that is caused by the tilt of the earth's axis.

Answer 3

Here's a great website, complete with animations, explaining the analemma: http://www.analemma.com/Pages/framesPage.html

Answer 4

It is only a big drawing to help take up some of the space in the Pacific Ocean on the maps. No just kidding..

The equation of time - solar noon and local noon...is the sun fast or slow? The nodes are the three mid line crossing points. This figure shows the relationship between the sun and time at all points of the year. The nodes are when the solar noon and local noon are the same. It shows that we must be moving faster some parts of the year (when we ar closer to the sun) than others.

Answer 5

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/analemma