Documentation

Concept

Solarix is a visual playground exploring the Earth's orbital around the sun and other geometrical phenomena related to it.

Orbital View

Shows Earth's orbit, axial tilt, solstices, equinox planes, and daily sun paths.

Observer Sky View

Shows the Sun’s apparent path in the sky for a given latitude, date, and time.

Definitions

• Earth's Orbit: The elliptical path Earth takes around the Sun.
• Axial Tilt: The 23.44° angle of Earth's axis relative to its orbital plane.
• Solstice: The points in Earth's orbit where the Sun reaches its maximum declination (summer/winter).
• Equinox: The points in Earth's orbit where the Sun is directly over the equator (spring/fall).
• Latitude: The angular distance (degrees) of a point on Earth's surface north or south of the equator.
• Sun path: The apparent path of the Sun in the sky during a day as seen from a specific location on Earth. (The sun path is dependent on which latitude positioned on earth and at which day of the year).

Controls

> Use the GUI controls to toggle visibility of different elements
> Click and drag to rotate the view OR use arrows to change camera view, +/- to zoom in and out
> q/w to change latitude
> a/s to change day of the year
> z/x to change time of day