How to Tell Time Without a Clock
Since our day is based upon a natural cycle, it should be easy to keep track of the hours of the day. One day is one rotation of the Earth; spinning us into the light of the Sun and from the light of the Sun.
Watching the Sun to Keep Track of the Time
We like to say that the Sun rises in the east and sets in the west. While this is certainly how we perceive it, the Sun is not actually moving at all. Everyone knows that the Earth rotates, and it is this rotation that creates the perception of the Sun’s movement.
A complete rotation of the Earth is what we call a day. Half of this rotation takes place when we are in Sunlight, the other half in darkness. Our day and night. This description is most accurate at the Equator that lies in the middle of the planet. The further north you go and the further south you go from the Equator creates shorter and longer days, depending upon the season. This is caused both by the curvature of the Earth and the tilting of the planet’s orbit around the Sun: sometimes one side of the Earth is closer to the Sun, and other times the opposite side is. This creates the seasons.
Understanding how the Earth rotates and how this impacts the day is important in telling time without a clock or a watch. When the Sun rises in the morning, looking at where the Sun is tells you that it is dawn. If our hours aligned perfectly with the Sun this should come at about six o’clock in the morning.
As the day progresses, the Sun moves in a westerly direction. In the northern hemisphere, we watch the Sun moving to the west in the south. At noon, the middle of the day, the Sun should be due south.
After noon, the Sun continues to move to the west, until it finally disappears beyond the horizon as we rotate out of its sight. Again following a perfect schedule, this should occur at about 6 o’clock at night (breaking up the day into half light and half darkness). However, we do not follow a perfect schedule, and there are not twelve hours of light followed by twelve hours of darkness in a given day for the majority of people.
How then, do we use the Sun to tell us the time? We know that when the Sun is due south it is exactly halfway through the day: that is, noon. When it is to the east of due south, it is morning. When it is to the west of due south, it is afternoon.
In order to give a more accurate time, we have to know when the cycle starts and ends. At what hour is dawn, and at what hour is dusk? Since this is always changing we have to pay attention to what the season is, and study what times are what. This changes not only with the seasons but with where exactly you are located. People living in New York will have shorter days than those living in Florida during the winter, however they will have longer days during the summer.
To demonstrate the principle of telling time by the Sun, however, we will use our hypothetical perfect system: where dawn comes at 6:00 AM and dusk comes at 6:00 PM.
Under this system, you can watch the Sun rise and know that this is 6:00 in the morning. If you look at the Sun and it is halfway between due south and due east, then it is 9:00. At due south it is noon. When it is halfway between due south and due west is 3:00, and finally when the Sun sets it is 6:00 again (but now in the PM).
Unfortunately, it is hard to be even this accurate when using the Sun to tell the time. In fact, our official time is no longer directly monitored by the Sun at all. We use atomic clocks to tell us the most accurate time, which is based on the vibrations of the caesium atom. While this is meant to approximate as precisely as possible the movement of the Earth’s rotation, it is not directly affected by it.
If you are looking for a slightly more accurate look at the time, try searching for recognizable landmarks. When the Sun is over one of these landmarks, it gives you a fairly good view of the time. The Scandinavians used this sort of system, and called these landmarks Daymarks, to tell exactly what time it was from the Sun.
The Big Dipper Clock
So far all we have discussed is telling the time during the day. But what about at night? That is a whole other kettle of fish, because there is no Sun at night. The Scandinavians with their Daymark system are able to keep track of the time by the Sun even at night, because although the Sun is not bright, there is still enough light emitted from the Sun even at midnight to give them some idea of the time. Most of us, unfortunately, are not that lucky.
One way to tell the time at night, however, is by using the stars. The Big Dipper constellation, one of the more easily found and recognizable of the constellations, can serve as a fairly accurate measure of time, and even of the seasons.
If you look at the two end points of the dipper, and follow the line created by these two points of light, you will be directed at Polaris, also known as the Pole Star. We call this the Pole Star because it is the one star in the sky that never moves, no matter the time of night or the season. It is a fixed constant. Ancient mariners would use the Pole Star to get their bearings (following it always points to the north).
We, however, can also use it to help us tell the time. The Big Dipper is not fixed in the night sky, and moves in rotation around the Big Dipper. By following its movement and its position in relation to Polaris, we can tell the season and also use it as a way to us of the exact time on any given night.
In order to do this, you must first know where the Big Dipper is in relation to Polaris at the beginning of the night, then how it moves during the night. It rotates around Polaris, almost like the way a clock moves. Firstly, find the Big Dipper, then watch where it is at different times of the night. Check your watch to see where it is at different times. Then you will be able to tell what time it is by its position!
More than anything, telling time without a clock takes practice. The more you watch the Sun and the stars, and pay attention to what time it is, the better you will be. You might even get to the point where you don’t need a watch at all!
