Your shadow, wherever you stand
Reading the sun.
How long a shadow is, and the way it falls, worked out in your browser from the sun’s real position.
It falls toward
—
At noon
—
As long as you are tall
—
The sun
—
See every window’s sun on the building itself.
Sol for iPhone is coming soon, with your own building on the board and the day’s sun walking its shadow round it.
Where your shadow falls.
You stand at the middle of your horizon. The dots are the sun’s path today, and your shadow lies on the floor, away from the sun. Walk the day, or drag the sky to turn it.
Three questions about shadows.
Why do shadows stretch?
A shadow’s length is the height of what casts it over the tangent of the sun’s altitude: as long as the object is tall with the sun 45° up, and longer without end as the sun meets the horizon.
Which way does a shadow point?
Away from the sun: west in the morning, east in the evening, and at noon toward the pole, north in the northern hemisphere and south in the southern.
When is a shadow as long as I am tall?
When the sun stands 45° up. On a day when it climbs higher, every shadow between those two moments is shorter than what casts it.
Watch your own building’s shadow.
Sol for iPhone is coming soon, with your own building on the board and the day’s sun walking its shadow round it. Leave your address for early access and one email when it ships.
Explore the light
Play and learn
More from Sol