ANALEMMA 2013: If you took a picture of the sun at the same time each day, would it remain in the same position? The answer is no, and the figure-8 shape traced out by the sun over the course of a year is called an analemma.
Japanese photographer "Shiraishi" stitched together more than 50 pictures spanning 12 months to reveal the analemma of 2013 over the city of Kumagaya-shi in Saitama, Japan:
"My analemma project started on December solstice in 2012 and finished on December solstice in 2013," says Shiraishi. "This photo contains the sun images from Jan. 18 to Dec. 22, that is, all the sun images are only in 2013."
The upper and lower tips of the "8" represent the solstices--the longest and shortest days of the year. Today the Japanese sun is at the bottom. Winter has arrived!
Other planets have analemmas, too. Not all are figure-8s, however. The shape depends on the tilt of the planet's spin axis and the eccentricity of its orbit around the sun. Martian analemmas resemble a teardrop, while Jupiter's analemma looks like a jelly-bean:
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