Page "Cardinal direction" Paragraph 3

The position of the Sun in the sky can be used for orientation if the general time of day is known.

In the morning, the Sun rises roughly in the east ( due east only on the equinoxes ) and tracks upwards.

In the evening it sets in the west, again roughly and only due west exactly on the equinoxes.

In the middle of the day it is to the south for viewers in the Northern Hemisphere, who live north of the Tropic of Cancer, and the north for those in the Southern Hemisphere, who live south of the Tropic of Capricorn.

This method does not work so well closer to the equator ( i. e. between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn ) since, in the northern hemisphere, the sun may be directly overhead or even to the north in summer.

Conversely, at low latitudes in the southern hemisphere the sun may be to the south of the observer in summer.

( See seasons and solstice for more on this ).

In these locations, one needs first to determine whether the sun is moving from east to west through north or south by watching its movements — left to right means it is going through south while right to left means it is going through north ; or one can watch the sun's shadows.

If they move clockwise, the sun will be in the south at midday, and if they move anticlockwise, then the sun will be in the north at midday.