Calculations for sun position follower

oportunity

HI

I'm making a sun follower with a pic, and I need the formulas to calculate the position of the sun, I need to calculate azimuth angle and zenith angle (Is that enough to know at any time the position of the sun???).


Thanks

gneill

That's enough to know how to point to the Sun from a given location. You would likely also want to recognize when the Sun has disappeared below the horizon so you don't try to track it through the body of the Earth; Instead, reposition for re-acquisition at sunrise and sleep 'till then.

How accurate a 'fix' are you looking for? Formulas with practical accuracies can be found in the book, "Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus.

Philosophaie

The Zodiac of Date follows the sun around. The Right Ascension and Declination of the Sun can be estimated from the RA and DEC of that Zodiac.