There is a certain village in Japan, situated in a very low valley, and yet on the Spring Equinox, the sun is nearer to the inhabitants at noon, by 3,000 miles and upwards, than when it either rises or sets. In what part of the country is the village situated?

(In reply to solution by Charlie)

According to the U.S.Naval Observatory's Multiyear Interactive Computer Almanac (MICA), the earth as a whole is receding from the sun on March 21 of any given year.  For the 20th, 21st and 22nd of March, 2006, at midnight GMT, for example, the distances are 0.995738363, 0.996023439 and 0.996310145 Astronomical Units, respectively.  An Astronomical Unit is about 93,000,000 miles. That's about .00029 AU/day or 27,000 miles per day.  So from sunrise to noon the earth has receded from the sun about 6600 miles, which more than eliminates the noontime closeness.

Posted by Charlie on 2006-03-01 11:29:41