News Item from the Wet Mountain Tribune on June 30th, 2016: Custer County courthouse is getting a new sundial.  Using a true north line surveyed by county commissioner Kit Shy, Charlie French is cementing a rod anchored in obsidian rock, whose shadow will align with that of the courhouse flagpole. "Taking advantage of the summer solstice on June 20, he literally nailed down the farthest reach of the flagpole shadow."

While French happily proclaims, “thanks to Harrison [whose clock allowed longitude determination in 1761], and knowing where the time zone meridian is, and how distant we are from it, we are accurate to one minute and 51 seconds of Mountain Time here in the visible solar time at the courthouse.”  Well, that's almost correct.  French's gnomon rod and courthouse flagpole shadows align at local solar time.  Mountain Time like other clock times do not match solar time due to the tilt of the earth's axis and eccentric orbit around the sun, shifting solar and clock time by +/- 15 minutes throughout the year.  Read more at:  http://www.wetmountaintribune.com/home.asp?i=945&p=6

Some things pass the test of time.  The Wet Mountain Tribune has been published every Thursday since 1883.  "Our duty is to keep the universe thoroughly posted concerning murders and street fights, and balls, and theaters, and pack-trains, and churches and lectures and schoolhouse, and military affairs, and highway robberies, and Bible Societies, and haywagons, and a thousand other things which it is in the province of local reporters to keep track of and magnify into undue importance for the instruction of the readers of this great newspaper."

Mark Twain
The Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, Virginia City, Nevada Territory

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Last Updated: 25 February 2017

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As reported in Design Bloom architect Kikuma Watanabe has designed a beautiful modern house integrating asundial and solar design principles: "The internal spaces support a comfortable environment where in summer it is naturally cool and in the winter it is warm. This ecological technology aids this passive system using the sun and the wind for an effective air conditioner."

The interior of the house has two-story rooms and lots of natural wood.  But unlike other houses except perhaps for the Cosmic Room in Corregadora, Mexico, it has a built in equatorial sundial. Central stairs lead up to the equatorial dial projection area with the gnomon itself a glass slit window in the roof. But the most important aspects for solar comfort are the angles of the eve overhangs, preventing hot summer sun from entering the windows yet allowing warming sunlight to enter during the winter . Brighter areas such as the kitchen are situated in rooms with southern exposure while the living room faces east looking out upon ponds and hills. Upstairs surrounding the equatorial dial projection ring are two rooms: the Room of Sunrise and the Room of Sunset, and on the main floor facing north is the Room of Shadow.

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Last Updated: 25 February 2017

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Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth Texas unveiled a new longitude sundial on May 5th, 2015. As William Andrewes, creator of the longitude dial explains, "The Longitude Dial" is based on an idea proposed in 1607 by Franz Ritter of Nuremburg...Ritter devised and published a world map projected from Nuremburg, with its lines of longitude arrayed to serve sundial as hour lines. However, the difficulties of creating a new project for each location and the expense of producing it in durable materials were considerable. Ritter's gnomonic projection map does not appear to have been developed for use in sundials - until now."

One of Andrewes sundials will be unveiled in front of Walsh Performing Arts Center, situated in the middle of a circular stone plaza. Andrewes monumental sundial prices start at $50,000.  Read more at https://magazine.tcu.edu/latest-news/new-sundial-landmark-unveiled-on-campus/

As an interesting side note, the gnomonic project map upon which Andrewes creates his sundials was extensively used during World War II and into the 1950's by high frequency (HF) direction finding (DF) sites.  On the gnomonic map not only are lines of longitude straight, but any great circle line of bearing is straight as well.  Using a pin on the DF site, the lines of bearing could be drawn with an extended piece of string.  Computer calculations eventually replaced the manual direction finding and geolocation method.

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Last Updated: 25 February 2017

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Of the 101 things that play in Peoria, the Pekin Illinois Sundial in Mineral Springs Park is listed #59, and billed as the World's greatest sundial in Pekin, Illinois.  Even Google Maps marks the Pekin Sundial.  The Pekin Park District says: "picturesquely located in the Sunken Gardens in Mineral Springs Park, this unique sundial tells the hours before or after noon and the highest point of the sun on a given day. More interesting information is available on the earth, sun, planets and latitude and longitude at the site."

The Peroria Journal Star interviewed Hentry Cakora, now 79, who built the dial using his family business, Tazewell Machine Parts and convinced the Pekin Park District to provide land for its construction in the Sunken Gardens of Mineral Springs Park.  It's easy to spot on Google Maps just south of Court Street near the park's Lagoon that from spring through fall offers a pedalboat rides.

Cakora who knew about the sun's motion and was good at mathematics created a complex set of sundials.  The main sundial is a horizontal dial about 6 feet tall of burnished steel, surrounded by hour marks on the ground.  But if you're there near noontime there are extra treats.  At the base of the sundial is a thin upright triangle split down the middle allowing it to cast a narrow beam of light toward the noon mark.  Then there is a pole just north of the dial with two flat nodi about 12 inches in diameter, each having a hole in the center.  The lower nodus casts a shadow that each hour falls on an analemma that allows correction for the sun's irregular "Equation of Time".  Charts explain this to the observer as well.  The upper nodus casts its shadow on a noon mark analemma, with small stakes to indicate the soltices and equinox.

Nearby is a planet. It is part of a planet trail that starts from the Park's nearby fountain.

Read more at: https://www.bordersundials.com/the-worlds-greatest-sundial-the-pekin-sundial-mineral-springs-park-illinois/

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Last Updated: 25 February 2017

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