Solstice sunrise times and sun position across Ireland and the World. Interesting Astronomically and Spiritually ;-)

Newgrange solstice, webcam at Newgrange caught a lovely pre-solstice sunrise on morning of Dec 20th 2020. Weather dependent and morning of Dec 21st was overcast and rainy. Video links here:

 https://www.gov.ie/en/news/eea6b-winter-solstice-at-newgrange-2020/?referrer=james

 https://youtu.be/8anbIH-XfPU?t=954  Dec 20th 2020 Newgrange solstice start 15mins into video

 https://youtu.be/8anbIH-XfPU?t=1323 Sun rises at 22 mins in

 https://youtu.be/8anbIH-XfPU?t=1551 25:55 ambient light on floor

 https://youtu.be/8anbIH-XfPU?t=1568 26:08 first ray of light on floor . . . 

Solstice sunrise times and sun position across Ireland.

Winter Solstice sunrise in Malin Head North Ireland today at 8:55am with sun at 133° (2° N of SE). Sunset at 16:00pm with sun at 227° (2° N of SW) 7hrs 5mins of daylight today, that is 31 mins less than Cape Clear in the South-West. https://timeanddate.com/sun/@2962718

Winter Solstice sunrise in Dublin today at 8:38am with sun at 130° (5° N of SE). Sunset at 16:08pm with sun at 230° (5° N of SW) 7hrs 30mins of daylight today here. 1 minute more of daylight tomorrow. https://timeanddate.com/sun/@3315278

Winter Solstice sunrise in Cape Clear SW Ireland today at 8:41am with sun at 128° (7° N of SE). Sunset at 16:31pm with sun at 232° (7° N of SW) 7hrs 51mins of daylight today, that is 20 mins more than Dublin. https://timeanddate.com/sun/@2965457

Ireland is roughly 440km high and 300km wide:

Malin Head to Cape Clear vertical (North-South) distance = 430km ish 

  == 4° of latitude  55° 30' N to 51° 30' N

Dublin to Cape Clear horizontal (East-West) distance = 300km ish

  == 4° of longitude  6°W to 10°W  

  4° of longitude is 4/360 of circumference of earth = 1/90th, 1/90th of 24 hours is 16 minutes. (yes, if you traverse Ireland 90 times you will have covered 27000km the same distance it takes to circumnavigate the globe . . . at 53° of latitude. Which is a bit shorter than circumnavigating at the equator (about 111.3*360 = 334*120 = 668*60 = 40080km).   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude#/media/File:WGS84_angle_to_distance_conversion.svg     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth

Cape Clear will have later sunset/sunrise than places further East but has earlier sunrise and more daylight as it is furthest South in Ireland. 

Handy that Ireland is both 4° of longitude wide as well as 4° of latitude high. Roughly now, a few bits of Ireland stick out a bit. Latitude - longitude grid boxes are squares at equator, lines of longitude meet at the poles so the width of latitude - longitude grid boxes narrows as you go further North. 

There are 180 latitudes and they are about 110km high. There are 360 longitudes and they are 111.3km wide at Equator, about 75km wide at Ireland's latitude (around about 53°N), and narrowing to no width at the North pole. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude

Good info and nice sunset/sunrise day/night length graphs at timeanddate.com.

The Sun rises in the East and sets in the West, . . . generally speaking. 

The Sun rises closest to the East (and sets in the West) at the Spring and Autumn equinoxes, it will be closest to East (and West) along the Equator at the equinoxes. On the Winter solstice the sun is most directly above the tropic of Cancer so the sun rises closest to the East (and sets closest to the West) along this tropic at this time. On the Summer solstice the sun is most directly above the tropic of Capricorn so the sun rises closest to the East (and sets closest to the West) along this tropic at this time.  

For locations on the Earth in the Northern hemisphere and above the tropics the sun rises and sets further South during the winter getting to about SE and SW (at Ireland's Latitude) on winter solstice, thus giving shorter days. The sun rises and sets further North during summer getting to about NE and NW (at Ireland's Latitude), thus giving longer days.

It's the other way around in the Southern hemisphere (below the tropics).

Between the tropics the length of day and night is close to equal the whole year. The sun also rises and sets at nearly right angle to the planet so there is less twilight time. 

At the equator at 0° latitude, e.g. in Libreville, Gabon in Africa (a smidge North of the Equator at 0°30'N 9°30'E) daylight hours range over 2mins very consistent. Sun ranges from 23° North and South of due East at the solstices.     https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/gabon/libreville

Winter solstice Sunrise at 06:17 113° ESE, Sunset at 18:23 247° WSW, Daylight 12hrs, 6mins, 10s

Spring Equinox Sunrise at 06:26 90° East, Sunset at 18:32 271° West, Daylight 12hrs, 6mins, 30s

Summer solstice Sunrise at 06:19 67° ENE, Sunset at 18:28 293° WNW, Daylight 12hrs, 8mins, 40s

Autumn equinox Sunrise at 06:11 90° East, Sunset at 18:18 270° West, Daylight 12hrs, 6mins, 27s

At the tropic of Cancer at 23°26'22" North of the Equator, e.g. in Muscat, Oman on the Arabian peninsula in the Middle East (a smidge North of this tropic at 23°35'N 58°23'E) daylight hours range over 3hrs from shortest day with 10hrs 41mins of sun to longest with 13hrs 35mins. Sun ranges from 26° North and South of due East at the solstices.     https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/oman/muscat

Winter solstice Sunrise at 06:43 115° ESE, Sunset at 17:24 245° WSW, Daylight 10hrs, 41mins

Spring Equinox Sunrise at 06:08 89° East, Sunset at 18:17 271° West, Daylight 12hrs, 8mins, 24s

Summer solstice Sunrise at 05:19 64° ENE, Sunset at 18:55 296° WNW, Daylight 13hrs, 35mins, 30s

Autumn equinox Sunrise at 05:54 89° East, Sunset at 18:03 271° West, Daylight 12hrs, 9mins

At 53°N e.g. in Ireland daylight hours range over 9hrs 30mins from shortest day with 7hrs 30mins of sun to longest with 17hrs. Sun ranges from 45° North and South of due East at the solstices.     https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/ireland/dublin

Winter solstice Sunrise at 08:38 130° SE, Sunset at 16:08 230° SW, Daylight 7hrs, 30mins

Spring Equinox Sunrise at 06:24 88° East, Sunset at 18:40 272° West, Daylight 12hrs, 15mins

Summer solstice Sunrise at 04:56 47° NE, Sunset at 21:57 313° NW, Daylight 17hrs

Autumn equinox Sunrise at 07:11 89° East, Sunset at 19:23 271° West, Daylight 12hrs, 12mins

At -90°S at the South Pole in Antartica  daylight hours range over 24hrs from shortest days with 0hrs  of sun for ?? days during the ?summer?winter? to longest with 24hrs for ?? days during the ?winter?summer?. Sun ranges over the full 360°. Rising in the North at end of "summer" traversing through East to South and West then setting in North. Rising in East and settign in West at equinox. Rising and setting in the South in the very short days just before the start of "winter".   https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/antarctica/south-pole

Winter solstice Sun up all day at highest altitude of the year at 23.5° all day, Daylight 24hrs

  Height of Antarctic Summer

Spring equinox - the one Sunset of the year!!, sun skirts horizon at altitude of 0° all day, Daylight/twilight all day

  Start of Antarctic Winter, Sun down all day every day from now until the next Equinox. Yeow.

Summer solstice Sun down all day at lowest altitude of the year -23.5° all day, Daylight 0hrs

  Depth of Antarctic Winter 

Autumn equinox - the one Sunrise of the year!!, sun skirts horizon at altitude of 0° all day, Daylight/twilight all day

  Start of Antarctic Summer, Sun up all day every day from now until the next Equinox. Yeow.

Interesting.

Madness.

Pretty Diagrams thanks to wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equinox#/media/File:North_season.jpg

The Earth's seasons through the year. Far right Winter/December solstice, Spring/March equinox, Summer/June solstice, Autumn/September equinox.

Stop.

And consider this diagram a bit more.

I had seen this diagram a good bit but not taken it in properly.

Consider . . . the earth and day and night length as it rotates each day in these positions.

Consider how high the sun gets in the sky.

At the poles, a full half year with 24hrs daylight then 24hrs night, sun steady at same altitude above/below horizon each day (at 23 degrees above horizon at height of summer solstice, down to 0 degrees skirting horizon at equinoxes, down to 23 degrees below horizon at depth of winter solstice).

Inside the polar circles 23 degrees from poles, night and day lengths very from nearly 24hrs/0hrs in mid-winter/summer to quickly changing night and days lengths near equinoxes where there is a 12hr/12hr day. 

At the mid-latitudes from 23 degrees polar circles to the tropics 23 degrees from equator; Night/day lengths short down to 3/4/5/../10 hours and up to 14/../19/20/21 hours.

In the tropics less variation through the year day or night length from 10 to 14 hours.

At the equator very little variation day and night lengths close to 12 hours all the time.   

 and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equinox#/media/File:Hours_of_daylight_vs_latitude_vs_day_of_year_with_tropical_and_polar_circles.svg

 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equinox

Hours of Daylight on different days of year by latitudes (Dublin, approx. middle latitude of Ireland is at latitude 53 degrees North, daylight from max 17hrs at Summer solstice to min 7hrs 30min at Winter solstice)

 

https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-resources/sunrise-moonrise-east/  

We can see the Sun rises due east at 90° on the 18th and 19th a couple of days before the equinox. Spring equinox sun-rise times and positions for March 2021 (from timeanddate.com) for Dublin, Ireland:

16	Sunrise 06:41 ↑ (92°)	Sunset 18:35 ↑ (269°)	Day length (hours, . . 11:53:48	. . diff mins) +4:34	Astro Twi- start 04:37	-light end 20:40	Naut Twi- start 05:22	-light end 19:55	Civil Twi- start 06:05	-light end 19:12	NOON time and altitude: 12:38 (33.1°)	148.827
17	06:39 ↑ (91°)	18:37 ↑ (269°)	11:58:23	+4:34	04:34	20:42	05:19	19:57	06:02	19:14	12:37 (33.5°)	148.868
18	06:36 ↑ (90°)	18:39 ↑ (270°)	12:02:58	+4:34	04:31	20:45	05:17	19:59	06:00	19:16	12:37 (33.9°)	148.909
19	06:33 ↑ (90°)	18:41 ↑ (271°)	12:07:33	+4:34	04:28	20:47	05:14	20:01	05:57	19:18	12:37 (34.3°)	148.949
Rise 06:33 rising at 90° == East Meridian 12:37 180° == South sun at 34° altitude Set 18:41 setting at 271° == West 12:37 Altitude 34° Heading ↑180°S Position Day
20	06:31 ↑ (89°)	18:43 ↑ (271°)	12:12:08	+4:34	04:25	20:49	05:11	20:03	05:54	19:20	12:36 (34.7°)	148.990
21	06:28 ↑ (88°)	18:45 ↑ (272°)	12:16:42	+4:34	04:22	20:52	05:08	20:05	05:52	19:22	12:36 (35.1°)	149.031
22	06:26 ↑ (87°)	18:47 ↑ (273°)	12:21:17	+4:34	04:19	20:54	05:06	20:08	05:49	19:24	12:36 (35.5°)	149.073

where to buy printer ink cartridges (in Ireland), comparing quality, price and ink volume. theinkshop.ie is the winner

TLDR: theinkshop.ie good price for generic cartridges. Much better ink volumes than genuine cartridges. 100% Irish owned. Genuine cartridges also available at the expected higher price.

(no they're not paying me anything nor do they know I'm writing this)

Our black ink is (finally) gone again (we have a Brother DCP-J315W printer scanner). We can stretch out cartridge life by taping over the ink level detector hole ;). We bought from theinkshop.ie before. The cartridges bought last longer than the genuine cartridges. 

I looked online to see if theinkshop.ie are still good value. 

And they are.

#LifeHack buy the best printer ink cartridges.

5 old brother ink cartridges, one which was butchered in an attempt to refill the ink, as you do. Boxes from generic cartridges (currently in printer) from theinkshop.ie on right.

Ink cartridges key features: QUALITY PRICE INK-VOLUME

You can classify the different cartridges available as follows:

Genuine "official" cartridges: Quality high, Price high, Ink-Volume low

Generic cartridges: Quality medium/high, Price low, Ink-Volume high/medium  <-- sweet spot

Generic cartridges: Quality medium?, Price low, Ink-Volume low/medium <-- ok

Re-filling ink cartridges, you can get re-filling kits but they are tricky to use and might not work for you.

In general, genuine "official" cartridges from the printer manufacturer e.g. Brother, Canon, HP are high Quality but can be very expensive and also do not last long (due to low ink volume). They seem to have low volumes of ink at 4.8ml and 8.7ml. This is annoying both because of the cost and the waste (plastic cartridges recycle or dump). The price has improved a bit due to the availability of generic cartridges but in many places they are still expensive (twice or more the cost).

On recent printers we owned(over last 15 years) we found the printer would refuse to print and demand for cartridge to be replaced long before the ink was used up. Understandable from an engineering point of view, you don't want the cartridge to run dry. But wasteful of ink and money. Especially if you do not need a perfect print out. On two of the printers we found a way to fool the printer (Brother DCP-J315W - put opaque tape over the ink level detector on cartridge). But you need to watch for when ink really is used up yourself.

Generic cartridges became available a few years ago and are more generally available now and (in some cases) the quality is as good as genuine cartridges. The cost is much better. And the ink-volume is more in some cartridges, so you get much longer cartridge life. You can get generic cartridges with medium ink volume about 12ml 13ml 14ml 17ml, or in one case black ink 28ml which I describe as high.

COMPARISON of Quality Price Ink-Volume

Notes/caveat: Comparing prices for my printer, YMMV with other printers but the quality price volume characteristics are similar for many genuine vs generic. Some generic cartridges have more ink volume. Quality is guessed at! theinkshop.ie and the genuine cartridges are the only ones I really know about as we have used them. 

https://www.inkjet.ie/brother-inkjet-cartridges/brother-dcp-j315w.html  - only generic

black or colour generic 13ml 3 euros (magenta for 4 euros)

"high capacity" ? 13ml ? really? 

Yes it is more than genuine cartridges (which are under 5ml and under 9ml).

But it's at the lower end of other generic cartridges (12ml 13ml 14ml 17ml 28ml)

Generic cartridges: Quality medium?, Price low, Ink-Volume medium/low

https://www.printerinks.ie/product/brother-dcp-j315w/   - only generic

black generic 17ml 6.87 euros, colour generic 12ml 3.92 euros

10 pack for 24.50 euros, 4 pack for 16.71 euros   

ink volume: black 17ml, colours 12ml

Generic cartridges: Quality medium?, Price low, Ink-Volume medium/low

https://dublincartridge.ie/index.php?route=product/category&path=59_328

black generic 7.50 euros, colours for 6 euros - only single generic cartridges

ink volume: black 17ml, yellow cyan colours 12ml, magenta 20ml

Generic cartridges: Quality medium?, Price low, Ink-Volume medium/low

https://www.123ink.ie/search/?search=dcpj315w

black generic 14ml 8.50 euros, black genuine brother 8.7ml 17 euros, 

colour generic 14ml 4.75 euros, colour genuine brother 4.8ml 9 euros 

generic 8 pack 42.50 euros, 

ink volume: black 14ml/8.7ml, colours 14ml/4.8ml

Generic cartridges: Quality medium?, Price low, Ink-Volume medium/low

http://www.theinkshop.ie/printer-supplies/brother/multi-function-printer/dcp-j/brother-dcp-j-315-w

black generic 28ml 7 euros, black genuine brother 8.7ml 17 euros, 

colour generic 16ml 6 euros, colour genuine brother 4.8ml 9 euros 

22 euros generic pack, 40 euros for 2 packs, 

The generic cartridges have ink volume: 28ml black and 16ml in colours

These generic cartridges here have more ink, especially for black.

ink volume: black 28ml, colours 16ml

Generic cartridges: Quality medium/high, Price low, Ink-Volume high  <-- sweet spot

Genuine cartridges  

Note to self, remember also to buy paper.  http://www.theinkshop.ie/Printing-Copying-Paper/products/4/

Re-using or re-cycling cartridges ?

theinkshop.ie will take old cartridges and recycle them. Not sure if that means they will be re-used.

Various other charities used to take them for re-cycling (probably to the UK) where you can redeem used cartridges for some money.

https://www.inkjet-recycling.ie/ oh dear :( closed down

Prices over last 3 years:

ORDER: 

LC-985BK-VALUEPACK 1 Full Set of Generic LC985 Ink Catridges 1 €21.99

LC-985BKINK Generic Brother LC985 Black Ink 2 €13.90

CARRIER Post & Packing 1 €2.99

Net Order Value €32.65

Total VAT €6.23

Total Order Value €38.88

ORDER 2 years ago: "

LC-985BK-VALUEPACK        1 Full Set of Generic LC985 Ink Catridges        1        €25.00

CARRIER        Post & Packing        1        €1.99

Net Order Value        €22.32

Total VAT        €4.67

Total Order Value        €26.99

Order 3 years ago:

harvey norman IN STORE 50 euros full pack genuine Brother cartridges (4 cartridges - 1 black and 1 each of cyan, yellow and magenta)

5 old brother ink cartridges, one which was butchered in an attempt to refill the ink, as you do. Old genuine brother box from 2017 or so, boxes from a year ago from theinkshop.ie on right.

Note on Replacing ink cartridges

When a new cartridge goes in especially if you mistreat printer as we do (making it use all the ink in cartridges) or if the printer has been unused for a while then you may need to "clean the print heads" or recharge them with ink. Printers usually have test page printing and ink head cleaning options. 

The process followed for our printer Brother DCPJ315W matches this:

https://www.brother.ie/support/dcpj315w/faqs/how-to-trouble-shooting/faq00000259_018

Power on printer.

Take out old cartridge and install new (after removing the bits that need to be removed(tape on top) but leaving the plastic sheath on bottom ink outlet for our printer type).

The printer asks you have you changed black cartridge and you confirm.

Send something to be printed. "processing" print job or "Receiving Data . . ." message seen on printer stays a long time while print heads humm and stutter and quietly whine . . . printing is very slow. A page eventually comes out but missing any black ink.

Using printer menus print a test page.

It can be seen most or all black ink blocks are failing.

Using printer menus tell it to clean black ink heads (or follow prompts after test page).

Repeat this process a few times. Some black should appear after an initial clean. It could take a few cleans before you have the head completely clean or recharged with ink.

SMISHing scam SMS watch out and how to report scams

My wife received an SMS and it looked sort of legitamate . . . BUT . . . 

 SMS received "There is an update on your parcel. Item stopped due to unpaid customs fee. Follow the instructions here: zm7.link/R5U26" 

Remember, legitimate organisations should NOT send you messages with links to click on. 

AND, what is more, zm7.link looks a bit dodgy, right!? 

 DO NOT CLICK on these SCAM links, unless you want to enter fake info and annoy the scammers ;). 

Visiting that link brings you on to https://number.userinfotool.cloud/updaterie/yadda/yadda There are fake UPS pages there which brings you through an easy process selecting delivery to Home or Work etc etc 

The fake SMS and first fake website looks like this:

 

The fake SMS message.

      

The fake UPS website.

After a few clicks you are brought to here:

 https://get.appcami.com/ie/?o=3126&r=c5r1890430819c1r&a=139&sa=&aff_id=1#joinForm_desktop 

A fake 1 euro (or perhaps it will cost you alot more!)  iPhone offer entering payment details.

WOAH, Great FAKE offer <-- sarcasm alert

WOAH, Great FAKE offer of 1 euro iPhone with normal form for filling in payment details on get.appcami.com

You can report scams to google who can then flag web pages as suspicious.

Report to google here:

https://safebrowsing.google.com/safebrowsing/report_phish/?hl=en

Info for google: SMS SMISHing "There is an update on your parcel. Item stopped due to unpaid customs fee. Follow the instructions here: zm7.link/R5U26" 

Visiting that link brings you on to https://number.userinfotool.cloud/updaterie/yadda/yadda fake UPS delivery confirm pages  and then on to fake 1 euro iPhone offer at https://get.appcami.com/ie/?o=3126&r=c5r1890430819c1r&a=139&sa=&aff_id=1#joinForm_desktop

https://www.garda.ie/en/crime/cyber-crime/i-ve-been-caught-out-by-an-online-scam-what-should-i-do-.html "Complaints of online crime or those involving computers should first be made to your local Garda Station."

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/scams/reporting-a-scam/

Google Safe Browsing

You can also report suspicious sites directly to Google Safe Browsing with the Suspicious Site Reporter extension (no need to revisit the Report Phishing page!). Report Sent Thanks for sending a report to Google. Now that you've done your good deed for the day, feel free to: 1. Take a second to rejoice merrily for doing your part in making the web a safer place. 2. Call/email/write to a neighbor/friend/relative and tell them what phishing is and how they can protect themselves. 3. Learn more about malware that can infect your computer on Stopbadware.org.