In late December, the Sun was low in the southern sky for those of us in the northern hemisphere. As the weeks and months passed, the Sun crossed the sky at higher altitudes. By late June, it reached its highest arc before starting downward again. The low point in December is the Winter Solstice while the high point in June is the Summer Solstice.

Imagine placing a south pointing camera with a very accurate clock timer in a permanent location to record the Sun’s altitude in the sky every week or so at noon for an entire year. The series of photos would record the vertical change of the Sun as you would expect. But, another thing would be obvious in the photos. The Sun would also show changes in horizontal position in the photos. Here is a good example made by Giuseppe Petricca from Sulmona, Abruzzo, Italy. This figure is called an Analemma.