Sun's motion across the sky

[Lukaszenko]

So a colleague came back from Australia (I live in Netherlands), and after my obligatory "does the water flush the other way?" joke, he said that while he didn't pay attention, he did notice that "the sun moves the other way". He insisted that he means "west to east". At first I dismissed him as crazy, but depending on who I ask they say that indeed the sun should appear to move the other way....or at least move in such a way that it seems like it's moving the other way. Or something...I don't even know. But the question is, is there any way to make sense out of the comment that in Australia, the sun moves "the other way"? I welcome discussion, but personal experience would also be nice.

[Nibb31]

In the Northern hemisphere, the sun is mostly at the north. We tend to build homes with openings facing south to get more sunlight. In the Southern hemisphere, it's mostly south, and buildings are probably oriented with that bias too, so you could "feel" that its direction is reversed. It's just that you're looking south instead of north, but it still moves from east to west.

Edited May 16, 2016 by Nibb31

[Mr Shifty]

2 minutes ago, Nibb31 said:

In the Northern hemisphere, the sun is mostly at the north. In the Southern hemisphere, it's mostly south, so you could "feel" that its direction is reversed. It's just that you're looking south instead of north, but it still moves from east to west.

You've got that backward, but point made. I suppose if you face the sun at noon in the northern hemisphere (southward), it would move left to right (east to west), while if you did the same in the southern hemisphere it would move right to left.

[Elrond Cupboard]

 

1 hour ago, Mr Shifty said:

You've got that backward, but point made. I suppose if you face the sun at noon in the northern hemisphere (southward), it would move left to right (east to west), while if you did the same in the southern hemisphere it would move right to left.

Yup, same reason the moon appears to be upside down.

[SuperFastJellyfish]

Found this on google:

It seems to be correct, but I've been drinking.   

Edited May 16, 2016 by SuperFastJellyfish

[Lukaszenko]

I can understand that the sun moves differently. Perhaps it's higher in the sky and perhaps you have to turn a different direction if you were following it. But I'm curious how this all plays out in real life. I mean, firstly, the sun moves slowly, and hardly anybody ever pays attention to how exactly it moves. Are the effects of your position on the earth enough to make you suddenly realize, or think that "holy ish, the sun is moving the other way!"?

Edited May 18, 2016 by Lukaszenko

[TheSealBrigade]

This is a sunset:

This is not a sunset:

For the purposes of our question, this is not a sunset:

This is also not a sunset:

This is definitely not a sunset:

And no matter what happens here, this will not be a sunset:

 

[YNM]

Maybe he meant the movement when Sun is low over the horizon (the only time you can easily see the Sun's disk and wait out for it's movement). Of course it's going to be different out of latitude (your inclination to Earth's equator).

Living in a place too close to Equator to notice the difference, I can't sense it. Just that some time of the year the Sun would take shade behind building to the north while some other times the opposite.

Edited May 18, 2016 by YNM

[rudi1291]

As i understand it, i would imagine it like this: If you would "track" the sun´s position looking from the the northern hemisphere, you would turn your head clockwise. Counter-clockwise from the southern hemisphere.