Sidereal and Solar Day Sidereal and solar day analysis made easy.
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simulation simulate simulator Local Sidereal Time sidereal simulation simulate solar day analyze sidereal

Sidereal and Solar Day Description

Sidereal and Solar Day is a handy, Java based simulation specially designed to show you the difference between the sidereal and solar day. The planets of our solar system both orbit around Sun and rotate on their axis. These two rotations allow for multiple definitions of what a day is. The sidereal day is the day according to the stars. It is the time it takes for a point on a planet facing a particular star to then face it again. On Earth, this time is 23 hours and 56 minutes. The unit of time called a solar day is the time it takes for a point on a planet facing Sun to then face Sun again. On Earth, this time is 24 hours. The difference between the sidereal and solar day is due to the orbital motion of the planet. For the planets with their orbital motion in the same direction as their rotation (Mercury, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune), the solar day is longer than the sidereal day. For Venus, the only planet with retrograde rotation, the sidereal day is longer than the solar day.

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