Naked Science Forum

General Science => General Science => Topic started by: gareth jones on 17/06/2010 11:30:02

Title: How high does a mountain need to be before it misses a sunset?
Post by: gareth jones on 17/06/2010 11:30:02

gareth jones  asked the Naked Scientists:
   
Geoid and the earths' nutation in obliquity
 
How high would Ben Nevis need to be to have a  night in June when the sun would not  set at the summit?
 
By how much would this change over a cycle of the earths' nutation in obliquity?(amplitude  - 9.2'' of lattitude)
 
By how much does the amount of insolation intercepted by the whole  oblate earth vary with changes in obiquity( ~ 2 degrees)? (rotating a marble does not change the size of its shadow but a 'chocolate button' changes its shape when tilted)
 
Might these energy changes be large enough to influence El Nino etc?
 
Thanks for great podcasts (http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/podcasts/)

Gareth Jones

What do you think?