Six months of Sun on a can

Explainer · 0:40 · silent, with on-screen words

A solargraph from Georgetown, Guyana, built up day by day from the December to the June solstice by the site’s Solar Pinhole Camera: one arc a day, climbing as the Sun moves north.

The video file (MP4, 1656 kB)

Shows the Solar Pinhole Camera’s default can and paper aimed east from Georgetown (6.80° N, 58.16° W), 21 December 2026 to 21 June 2027.

Chapters

  1. 0:03 December: the lowest arcs
  2. 0:14 March and April: overhead
  3. 0:23 May and June: the northern arcs
  4. 0:31 Reading the paper

From the lesson Solargraphy: Long-Exposure Sun Paths on Paper.

What the video shows, in words

A silent 40-second explainer. It builds up a solargraph day by day: the trails the site’s Solar Pinhole Camera computes for its default Monster (16 oz / 473 ml) can with Ilford Multigrade RC 5×7" paper, aimed east with no tilt, in Georgetown, Guyana, from 21 December 2026 to 21 June 2027 (183 days, every day clear). The paper is shown as the simulator shows it.

21 Dec 2026: sunrise at azimuth 114°, noon Sun 60° up in the south. The noon Sun passes overhead on 7 Apr 2027 and 5 Sep 2027. 21 Jun 2027: sunrise at azimuth 66°, noon Sun 73° up in the north.

Facing east the paper records the morning part of each day’s arc; when the Sun climbs steeply, as on 7 Apr 2027, the sheet only reaches about 42° up and the arc runs off its top. Real solargraphs show gaps where clouds hid the Sun; this one assumes clear skies.

  1. 0:00 A pinhole can left out for six months draws one arc of Sun a day. Watch Georgetown’s, solstice to solstice.
  2. 0:03 Aimed east, the can sees the Sun rise and climb. On 21 Dec 2026 it rises at azimuth 114° and at noon stands 60° up in the south.
  3. 0:14 Each day the arc moves a little north. The noon Sun passes overhead on 7 Apr 2027; the paper only reaches about 42° up that day, so the arc runs off its top.
  4. 0:23 By 21 Jun 2027 the Sun rises at azimuth 66° and the noon Sun is 73° up in the north: the last arc, farthest along the paper.
  5. 0:31 183 arcs, one a day, here with every day clear (real papers show gaps for cloud). The dots mark three sunrises: the spread between them is the Sun’s whole range in six months.
  6. 0:37 Seal a can, aim it east or west, and leave it from solstice to solstice. The simulator shows your paper first.

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