what does it mean that the sun can go overhead and "flip" to an azimuth that appears to be wrong.Could you exp

Question

this question is in response to nrao kid response to a previous question which i had asked concerning an increasing and decreasing azimuth of the sun.I live at latitude 11.2 degrees north and 60.67 degrees west

Answer 1

The azimuth of the sun does not actually "flip" in the morning and afternoon at your place. It is such that it increases slowly, comes to a standstill and then goes in the other sense. The opposite is true in the afternoon, when the daily turn of azimuth comes to a standstill and then moves in the other direction for sunset.
This is unique in summer at your latitude in Tobago. You are north of the equator but the sun is even further north in June and July.
During the longer part of the year the sun will be south of you at noon, so the sense of azimuth increase is always positive during the whole day.
But now, while the sun is north that sense of azimuth change has to reverse when the sun is high, so it has a zero value at noon when it is north of you.
Observe the azimuth progress of the sun in September - it will be all positive again then.

P.S. Just to make sure and not to be sidetracked by other contributors: East (sunrise) is now at an azimuth of less than 90°, not 270° . Sunset is at an azimuth of more than 270°, not 90°. Geographical azimuth is defined as:
North: 0°/360°
East: 90°
South: 180°
West: 270°

Answer 2

A solar navigation instrument, like an old sextant, cannot tell you which way is north when the sun is straight up. To find north when the sun's altitude is 90 degrees, you need some other reference, like a magnetic compass.

Answer 3

No. The Lucifer story is a spiritualized interpretation of the planet Venus' radical change in orbit as seen in our horizon. It is said that it used to have as its orbit a higher more prominent plane but was plunged to its present location as a result of some interplanetary disturbance in the past. As to the corona thing, it is not associated with anyone in particular. The corona(crown) or halo is placed by sculptors on religious statues as an indication of their holiness.

Answer 4

There have not been any changes