The Solar Time

In its daily run through the sky, the Sun offers a great way to know the time. Since it
always moves at the same speed it can be used as a clock. How it works?

First of all, to set everyone to agree wherever he lives on Earth, a reference time has
been defined. It has been decided to use universal time or T. It corresponds to the time
given in England when the Sun is above a line drawn on the ground in the town of
Greenwich; It is called the Greenwich Meridian. It is the official time that is used
worldwide to synchronize clocks.

When it says 12:00 am, it means it’s 12 or 12 in Greenwich, England. There is a time
difference of -9 hours with California (they are behind Greenwich) and +8 hours with
Sydney in Australia (they are ahead of Greenwich). However, it is also necessary to
change the time in winter and summer. Now, you can fix appointments without difficulty
to a person anywhere in the world using universal time without risk of deceiving you.

But here or elsewhere you can calculate yourself the exact time given by the Sun
without knowing the Greenwich time or the jet lag. Simply draw a circle on the ground
about 30 cm in diameter that you will divide into 24 parts separated by 15°.

Then plant a large stick straight in the center. Looking at where the shadow of the stick
is projected you will know the solar time. This very simple device is known since
antiquity and is called a gnomon. There is also another version in which the sunlight
passes through a small slit and in which the time is indicated by the position of the light
ray.