analemma

1 9.9

A yearly diagram of the sun's position at the same time each day, often in a figure eight

noun
/ˌænəˈlɛmə/

Specialized

: analema

To visualize the analemma, you can draw a diagram that connects the Sun's locations at the same time every day, revealing its annual pattern.

Examples

The analemma illustrates the sun's path throughout the year.
The analemma is often printed on globes to show the sun's changing position throughout the year.
By tracking the sun's location at the same time each day, you can create your own analemma.
The unique figure-eight shape of the analemma helps explain why the length of days changes.
Have you ever seen an analemma in a science book?
By marking the Sun's position at noon every day for a year, we can create an analemma that shows its unique path in the sky.
The analemma illustrates how the Sun appears to move in a figure-eight shape when observed at the same time each day throughout the year.

Surface Forms

analemma singular

analemmas plural

Morphology

analemma = lemma (opaque) = ana + lemma

Although historically analyzable as 'ana-' + 'lemma', the modern astronomical meaning (a year-long sun-position diagram) is specialized and not derivable from the components by an average learner.

Etymology

Analemma comes from Greek parts ana- meaning 'up' and lemma meaning 'something taken' or 'a support', because it once named a tool or picture used to mark where the sun was 'taken' at different times. So, an analemma today is the familiar figure-eight diagram that shows the sun's changing place in the sky over the year.