Explore the Sun's figure-8 analemma - the path made by photographing the Sun at the same clock time for a year. Scrub day of year, play the loop, and toggle the equation-of-time bar.
Published teaching figures: obliquity 23.44 deg, equation of time about +/-16 min (Spencer-style teaching approx). Seasons Earth 3D teaches seasons; Sidereal vs Solar Day teaches day length - this page teaches the analemma figure-8.
Drag to orbit and scroll or pinch to zoom. Scrub day 0-365, play/pause, or toggle the equation-of-time bar.
Solar Analemma 3D Explorer
Reviewed by FreetoolOnline editorial teamThis browser explorer shows the solar analemma as a teaching schematic - not an ephemeris. The gold figure-8 is the path of the Sun at a fixed mean solar time across a year, built from declination (Earth obliquity 23.44 deg) and the equation of time (about +/-16 min in a common teaching approximation).
North-south motion follows the seasons; east-west motion follows how sundial time drifts from clock time. Scrub day of year, play the loop, or toggle the equation-of-time bar. Sidereal vs Solar Day explains day length; Seasons Earth explains seasons - this page explains the figure-8 itself.
- Gold analemma curve with month tick markers
- Sun marker scrubbed by day of year (0-365)
- Play/pause year animation
- Optional equation-of-time bar
- Published obliquity 23.44 deg and ~+/-16 min EoT teaching range
- Distinct from seasons-earth and sidereal-vs-solar-day
- Runs fully in the browser with the vendored three.js engine - no account, no upload
Students see why noon Sun photos form a figure-8; teachers link obliquity to the tall loop and eccentricity/obliquity to the lean; curious readers connect sundial error to the equation of time.
| Figure | Value | Source note |
|---|---|---|
| Obliquity | 23.44 deg | IAU / Earth orientation |
| Equation of time range | about +/-16 min | Spencer-style teaching approximation |
| Year model | 365-day non-leap | Teaching scrubber (not a leap calendar) |
| Shape drivers | declination + EoT | Standard analemma literacy |
Riding the Sun marker around the figure-8
Four controls sit beside the scene, and the whole year is reachable from them. Drag the day-of-year scrubber from about day 80, the spring crossing, up toward about day 172, the June solstice, and the Sun marker climbs the northern loop. Press Pause year to stop the automatic advance, or let it run to watch the marker trace the full loop unattended. Hide EoT bar drops the east-west equation-of-time offset out of view when you want the bare curve, and Fullscreen gives the figure-8 the whole display.
| Quantity | Value |
|---|---|
| Obliquity | 23.44 deg |
| Equation of time | about +/-16 min |
| Spring loop crossing | about day 80 |
| June solstice | about day 172 |
How this explorer compares with its siblings
All three scenes are free and run in the browser; they differ in which fact they teach. The Solar Analemma 3D Explorer is the one that draws the figure-8 itself.
| Option | Strength | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Solar Analemma 3D (this page) | Figure-8 path, obliquity 23.44 deg, EoT about +/-16 min | Teaching approximation, not an ephemeris |
| Seasons Earth 3D | Obliquity with a solstice scrub | Seasons, not the noon-Sun figure-8 |
| Sidereal vs Solar Day 3D | Day-length contrast | Day length, not the analemma curve |
Everything renders on your device with WebGL. The 3D engine loads once (about 0.7 MB) and is cached; no scene data is sent to a server.
This is an educational analemma schematic - not an ephemeris or climate model.
For the cases this scene suits best, read when to use the Solar Analemma 3D Explorer. The Space 3D collection also includes Seasons Earth 3D and Sidereal vs Solar Day 3D.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Solar Analemma 3D Explorer show?
A teaching schematic of the Sun's figure-8 analemma from declination (obliquity 23.44 deg) and the equation of time (about +/-16 min), with a day-of-year scrubber.
Why is the analemma a figure-8?
North-south motion follows the Sun's declination through the seasons. East-west motion follows the equation of time. Together they draw a figure-8 when you mark the Sun at the same clock time all year.
What is the equation of time here?
A teaching approximation spanning about +/-16 minutes - how far sundial (apparent) time drifts from mean solar (clock) time. The optional EoT bar visualizes that east-west offset.
How is this different from Seasons Earth 3D?
Seasons Earth 3D teaches axial tilt and solstice/equinox geometry. This page teaches the year-long noon-Sun figure-8 path (analemma).
How is this different from Sidereal vs Solar Day 3D?
Sidereal vs Solar Day compares day lengths. This page shows how those timing effects accumulate into the analemma curve.
Is this an ephemeris?
No. It is an educational analemma schematic using common teaching formulas - not a precision solar ephemeris.