Does the sun appear to move faster across the sky towards the equator compared to the poles?

Question

I know that the Earth rotates at around 1000 MPH at the Equator and 0 at the poles. So does this mean that the closer one is to 0 degrees the sun rises and sets faster?

Answer 1

If you think about it, no, it wouldn't.

Suppose that it's March 20th or September 22nd, the dates of the equinoxes.

At the equator, the sun rises due east, goes precisely overhead and sets due west. It covers 180 degrees over a great-circle of sky.

At the pole on the same dates, the sun does precisely the same thing, only horizontally, because the great circle runs along the horizon. Exactly the same distance in the sky at exactly the same speed.

There IS a difference, however, at different seasons. Suppose it's June 21 or December 22nd, the solstices. At those times, the sun at the equator rises 23.5 degrees away from due-east/due-west, and sets 23.5 degrees away. It still takes 12 hours to traverse the sky, but over a shorter arc-distance, since it's no longer following a great-circle. (In the same way that you'd travel fewer miles if you flew around the world at the latitude of the Tropic of Cancer than if you flew all the way around the equator.)

In other words, it isn't the earthly latitude of the observer that counts. It's the celestial latitude, or "declination" of the sun on the day you're observing. The sun traverses the sky with the fastest apparent movement when it's directly above the equator at the equinoxes.

Answer 2

#1. No, the sun does not move faster. Caitlin has been closest thus far. The tilt of the earth means that the sun is travelling a shorter distance from horizon to horizon. It doesn't go from due east to due west (except on the equinoxes). Other times it makes a longer or shorter arc across the sky. This can best be observed in the far north (or far south) above the arctic circle. At the summer solstice, the sun will travel in a circle in the sky, never going below the horizon. #2. Sundials are always inaccurate, compared to clocks. They measure solar time, which is not the same as calendar time. However, they will accurately denote solar noon, regardless of the season.

Answer 3

Yes and no. Yes it appears to cover more arc length across the sky in a given time at the equator. No, the rotational speed is the same. Once you get so far North or South, you find a place where the sun just spins in a circle, never sets, during specific times of the year. That is at the arctic or the antarctic circles. The times of year are opposite each other.

Answer 4

The smaller the circle or ellipse that the sun must make in one day is shorter at the poles and therefore has a fast "moving" time thier as compared to the long circle it mst make at the equator. Just draw a small circle and then a larger one around that, which one would be fast to walk or run around? Hope this helps.

Answer 5

The sun moves degree by degree at the same rate everywhere.

The sun covers more sky in the high latitudes that are in their summer, so the sun spends more time crossing it, but it crosses at the same number of degrees per hour as the latitudes near the equator, whose day is shorter.

Answer 6

There isnt the same amount of sunlight per day at those two points. At a pole the sun can stay visible for days. So thats not really something you can compare at those locations.