N 27°56'19" W 81°34'36", Lake Wales, Florida.
N 27° 56.320 W 081° 34.613
17R E 443246 N 3090542
The Geographic Coordinates are marked on this Analemmatic sundial which is a type of horizontal sundial in which the shadow-casting object can be a person,. Somtimes called a Human Sundail.
Waymark Code: WMD8NY
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 12/05/2011
Views: 14
The Coordinates are marked on a plaque set into the ground at the centre of the wheel shaped footpaths. N 27°56'19" and W 81°34'36"
With any sundail you need the Latitude of your location, to work out the declination of the Sun, So for reference purposes, The Coordinates are often inscribed on or near large unique sundails.
The person has to step on the relevant month, marked on the ground to correct for the tilt on the Earths axsis. Depending on the direction and declination of the sun on a given day, the time is read from the dial by noting where the shadow cast by the vertical post or person crosses hour points laid out in an ellipse on the ground.
This makes it very different from the traditional sundial like we can see on the front of the Bok Tower, where the Suns shadow is cast by a triangular shaped wedge, which by the way also has the Coordinates engraved above the conventional Sundail.
The Error on the Bok Tower Coordinates are significant, as it would appear the engraver has rounded up the Westerly Longitude to save space.
An interesting web site that explains how to build a sundail is:-
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visit link)