The apparent solar time = the hour angle of the sun + 12h

The mean solar time = the hour angle of mean sun + 12h

Equation of Time = Mean solar time – Apparent Solar Time

In other words, the equation of time is the difference between apparent solar time and mean solar
time taken at the same instant at one place.

The equation of time can be either positive or negative depending on the time of the year.

 The values range from approximately +15 to -15 mins. but can be as much as +64 mins.
 The values are positive from 15th April to 14th June and from 1st September to 24th
 The values are negative from 15th June to 31st August and from 25th December to 14th

Nautical Almanac.

The Equation of Time for 00h (lower meridian) and 12h (upper meridian) for each day is printed
at the foot of the Nautical Almanac daily page as shown in this extract. The Local Mean Time of
the Sun’s Meridian Passage is shown in the column to the right of the EOT. (This is the apparent
time of Mer Pas adjusted for EOT to give the LMT and rounded up to the nearest minute).

If the mean time of Mer. Pas is shown to be greater than 1200 then the EOT must be negative,
indicating that apparent time is slow compared to mean time. Conversely, if the mean time of
Mer. pas. is less than 1200 then EOT is positive, indicating that apparent time is ahead of mean
time.

To calculate longitude we simply find the difference between LMT of Mer. Pas. and the GMT of
our observation of Mer. Pas. then, by converting the time difference to arc we are able to find the
difference in degrees of longitude.

Let’s try an example:

Date: 22 June.  Zone Time: 1140 (+4).  DR Pos: 320 30’N.  610 55’W. At meridian passage, the
deck watch time was 16h 08m 25.1s  and the Deck Watch Error was  -05.0s. The daily page for
that date shows that the Eqn. of Time is 02m 02s and that Mer. Pas. is 1202 indicating that EOT is
negative.

Procedure:

 Calculate time difference.

Deck Watch Time:        16h 08m 25.1s

DWE:                                             -05.0s

GMT:                               16h 08m 20.1s

LMT Mer.Pas:   12h  02m 00s

Time Diff:        04h 06m 20.1s

(Longitude West, GMT Best)

 Convert Time to Arc

4h  = 4 x 15  =       60o  00’  00”

06m = 6 ÷ 4  =        1o 30’  00”

20.1s = 20.1 ÷ 4 =  0o  05’  01″.5

Therefore, Long = 61o  35’ 01″.5 W

The navigator seldom requires the time of meridian passage to accuracies greater than one minute.
Therefore, use the time listed under the “Mer. Pass.” column unless extreme accuracy is required.

Alternative Method. Notwithstanding the slight inaccuracy caused by the rounding up of the
listed time of Mer. pas., practicing navigators may prefer the above method but for students and
tutors of astro navigation, it provides very little understanding of the equation of time. To
overcome this problem, it may be more beneficial for students to calculate the time of Mer. Pas
themselves by applying the equation of time. There is also the benefit of a greater degree of
accuracy.

So if, in the above example, we wished to recalculate the time difference by applying the
equation of time to the local apparent noon (LAN) instead of simply using the published time of
Mer. Pas., we would proceed as follows:
On 22 June, the EOT is 01m 55s at 00h and it is 02m 02s at 12h so the hourly rate of change is (02m
02s – 01m 55s) ÷ 12 = 0.58s. Therefore, at 16h 00m, the EOT will be 02m 02s + (4 x 0.58s) = 02m
04.32s which we can approximate to 02m 04s. The table shows that Mer. Pas is greater than 1200
indicating that apparent time is slow compared to mean time. This means that EOT is negative
and must be added to the apparent time to give mean time.

Thus, if the hour angle of the mean sun is 15° (1 hour) the mean time
is 12 + 1 = 13
hours, which is the same thing as 1 o’clock mean time in the
afternoon; if the hour angle of
the mean sun is 195° (13 hours), the mean time is 12 + 13 =25 hours,
which is the same as 1
o’clock mean time after the midnight (i.e., next. Day).