Some elementary but surprising facts about the Sun's path at sunset.

Abstract

For temperate latitudes, the assumed path of the Sun across the sky would suggest that the angle between the horizon and the Sun's path at sunset would be much greater on the first day of summer when the Sun is high in the sky at noon than on the first day of winter when the Sun's noon elevation is 47° lower. The angle that the Sun's path makes with the horizon at sunset is, however, exactly the same on the first day of summer and the first day of winter-for any latitude. For 43° north latitude, although the range of angles over a year for the Sun's noon elevation is 47°, the range of angles between the horizon and the Sun's path at sunset is only 5°.