Winter Solstice & Vesta update

Yesterday evening I took the opportunity to have a look at Vesta. It has now passed between TYC0040-01286-1 and 112 Psc and it lay just below TYC0040-00885-1 making an isosceles triangle with the two previously mentioned stars.

Today is the winter solstice. The photo above was taken about one and a quarter hours before the solstice which fell at exactly 13:04 local time. The photo is of a sundial which shows the solar analemma (the path followed by the midday sun). The shadow of the gnomon is (almost) in its position at the top of the analemma, where it should be on the shortest day of the year. On the day of the summer solstice, the shadow will fall on the lowest point of the analemma.