Friday, April 17, 2015

Angular dimension of the sun as viewed from earth

Approximate calculation of the angle subtended by the sun when viewed from earth:

Diameter of sun, x = 1392000 km
Distance of sun from earth, y = 149000000


Approximate angle = 2 tan-1((x / 2) / y) = 2 x 0.26763471480399391313430123468864 degrees = 0.53526942960798782626860246937729 degrees