How the Sky Turns · 1 of 8

Which Way Is East?

Why does the Sun rise due east only twice a year?

The four points of your own horizon, a bearing round it and the point overhead — then where the Sun rises through the year, and why a star rises at the same point every night.

You’ll be able to say which way is east from where you stand, and where tonight’s Sun and stars will rise.

8 steps · about 6 min

Where and which night

Working out when this is best placed from where you are…

Where

Which night

Date

Time

Kept for this guide only, until you change it here — your map settings, and every other guide, stay as they are.

Print, play outside or present

Present on a big screen

Scan with a phone's camera, or open

Sources

HYG stellar database v4.2 — the positions of Orion's Belt
Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms, 2nd ed. (1998), ch. 13 and 25 — the Sun's position, and the azimuth in each readout
US Naval Observatory — Earth's seasons: the equinoxes and solstices
NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, Solar Calculator — the azimuth of sunrise for any date and place
IERS Conventions (2010), ch. 5 — the sidereal day, 23h 56m 04s of mean solar time

← GUIDES

More below ↓

With a keyboard, focus the sky, aim it with the up and down arrow keys, and press Enter to drop the pin at the centre of the view; or press Show me.

You are here

Settings

Screen

Night mode Turns every page red, to keep your eyes adjusted to the dark.

High contrast Bolder constellation lines, larger and brighter names on the sky, and stronger text and edges everywhere. Starts on if your device asks for more contrast.

Reduce motion The camera cuts to where it is going instead of flying there, and panels and sheets appear without sliding. Starts on if your device asks for less motion.

Battery saver Draws the sky thirty times a second at most: smoothness traded for battery.

Night brightness Dims the screen below your phone’s lowest setting, down to a fifth, while night mode is on.

Clock and voice

Clock How every time is written. Until you choose, your language’s own clock decides.

D describes What D says about the view on the sky: one sentence, or in full with the field, the constellation and five names.

Sounds Quiet tones as you use the map: a tick as you drag the clock past a mark or dusk, a chime for the star you pick — higher for hotter stars — and a low swell while a figure is out of the dome. Made in your browser, and off until you turn them on.

All settings and your progress

The line where the ground meets the sky is your horizon, and four letters stand on it: N, E, S and W. Face north and east is on your right, west on your left, south at your back. You are facing the E now.

The upright lines are bearings. A compass bearing round the horizon is an , in degrees from north through east: north is 0°, east is 90°, south 180°, west 270°, and back to north at 360°. Every point on your horizon has one.

Now look up. The sky is a dome resting on your horizon, and every bearing line climbs to its top: the , straight overhead, 90° up. Wherever you go, you stand at the middle of your own dome.

Dawn at the March equinox. Run it and watch the Sun come up at the E, due east: its azimuth about 90° as it clears the ground. It rises there only at the two equinoxes, in March and September.

Dawn at the June solstice, your summer. Choose, then run it and watch where the Sun meets the horizon against the E.

Dawn at the December solstice, your winter. Run it: the Sun rises south of east. All year its rising point swings between the two, passing the E only at the equinoxes; in your summer it rises north of east.

Run five hours: each trail climbs from the ground at its own point. Orion's Belt comes up at the E, every night.

Your own E, tonight. Find it outside, then look for the Sun and the stars coming up.

Azimuth is a bearing from north: east is 90°
The Sun rises due east only at equinoxes
A star rises at the same point nightly