I saw their interest as 'opportunity kicking in the door,' since I had wanted to build a Solstice Dial for about 25 years. With a go-ahead from the Alger Community Hall's board, I finalized the plans, and built a quarter scale model which was greeted with enthusiasm. To raise funds for materials for the project, the hat was passed at community events and the project also received a grant of $500 from the local Rick Epting Foundation for the Arts. Rosemary Ryan took on the all-important job of treasurer. With a lot of help, a new sundial was built.
The Dial Shape
This dial consists of a pedestal that appears to grow out of the ground and bloom into an open sphere with its axis, called the gnomon, pointed toward the north celestial pole. Three pieces circle the gnomon, held in place by four meridian bars. The three pieces consist of a stainless steel equinox disk flanked by two sections of cones that describe the arc of the sun across the sky on the summer solstice (above), and the winter solstice (below). A ring circles the pedestal showing the location of the Center of the Universe. Except for the stainless steel equinox disk, the structure is made of painted mild steel.
Telling the Time
Time can be read using the shadow of the gnomon onto the equinox disk. There are extraneous shadows that fall on the equinox dial from the solstice disks, and the meridian bars cast confusing shadows a few minutes before and after local solar noon. Run your hand along the gnomon and observe its shadow on the time disk to confirm which shadow is that of the gnomon, which is the one you're looking for. Ignore the others.
Notice that the time hashes in the stainless steel equinox disk, amazingly well cut with a water jet, are rotated 9.36 minutes compared to the meridian bars. That is the latitude adjustment to account for the time difference between this Alger dial and the center of the Pacific Time Zone.
The Equatorial disk is perpendicular to the pole-pointing gnomon which makes it parallel to the Earth's equator. The sun shines on the top of it during the spring and summer and on the bottom during the fall and winter when the sun blesses the southern hemisphere. This dial reads Standard Time. Add an hour when daylight savings time is in effect, which is always when the sun falls on the top of the disk, and for a month or so after it drops below and before it comes back up.
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