We recently had this question forwarded to us from an email correspondent, "malkix": "At noon in late December the sun's angle above the horizon was about 30 deg., today (March 16) about 45 deg. What will it be in late June?"

The sun's apparent angle above the horizon depends on several factors: the Earth's tilt on its axis (about 23 degrees); the time of year, and the observer's latitude, or distance from the equator. (Baltimore is situated at slightly less than 40 degrees North latitude.)

Jim O'Leary, director of the Davis Planetarium at the Maryland Science Center did the math and came up with these numbers: In late December in Baltimore, around the time of the winter solstice, the sun appears only about 27 degrees above the horizon at noon. In late March and late September, around the vernal and autumnal equinoxes, it stands about 50 degrees above the horizon - a bit more than halfway up the sky. And, at the summer solstice, late in June, it will be about 73 degrees above the horizon.

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