Solar Time

What time is noon?

At solar noon, the Sun crosses your local meridian. On the solar clock, that moment is 12:00.

Your phone and the Sun answer different questions.

Local Time helps a whole region agree. Solar Time describes the apparent Sun at one place. Because a time zone covers many longitudes and the apparent Sun does not move at a perfectly uniform clock rate through the year, the two readings usually differ.

Same noon, different numbers.

At the instant of local solar noon, SOLAR reads 12:00 Solar Time. Your civil clock might read 11:47, 12:36 or 13:54 depending on longitude, time-zone policy, daylight saving and date.

Why use a twenty-four-hour clock?

Solar Time preserves familiar hours and minutes. The difference is that the number is tied back to the apparent Sun, so 12:00 regains a direct astronomical meaning.

What SOLAR shows with it

A clock reading alone does not describe the experience of light. SOLAR pairs Solar Time with the current solar phase and the duration of day or night ahead.

Try reading Solar Time Next: Seasonal Hours