How Do You Determine Latitude From The Suns Declination?
The sun’s declination is its angular distance from the celestial equator (the equator of the sphere of stars). The declination of the sun changes daily, moving north and south of the celestial equator. The sun is at its highest declination (23.5 degrees) on the summer solstice and at its lowest declination (-23.5 degrees) on the winter solstice. The sun is on the celestial equator with a declination of 0 degrees at the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. If you know the sun’s declination and can measure its altitude at noon, you can find your latitude. Use a table to find the sun’s declination on the day of your observation. Use positive degrees for declinations to the north of the celestial equator and negative degrees for declinations to the south. Prepare a measuring tool. Attach a weight to the bottom of a string and fix the top of the string to your cardboard sheet. Find the true horizon by measuring a 90-degree angle to your vertical string. Measure the degrees with your protractor an
