Configuration

Location

The location is configured from Suntimes.

Time Format

Natural Hour can display time using 6-hour, 12-hour, or 24-hour format.

Hours of Equal Length

The inner dial displays hours of equal length. Standard options include system time, local mean time, or time zones configured by Suntimes.

Others options:

  • Babylonian hours are counted from sunrise.
  • Italic hours are counted from sunset.
  • Italian Civil hours are counted from civil dusk.
  • Julian hours are counted from solar noon.

Hours of Unequal Length

The outer dial displays hours of unequal length. These are known as Roman hours, temporal hours, or seasonal hours.

Daytime, the period between sunrise and sunset, is divided evenly into 12 hours. The first hour (I) of the day begins with sunrise, while the twelfth hour (XII) ends at sunset.

Similarly, nighttime is also divided into 12 hours. The first hour (I) of the night begins with sunset, and the twelfth hour (XII) ends at sunrise.

These daytime and nighttime hours are not the same, with length depending on latitude and varying with the seasons. For example, in the winter the daytime hours are shorter and nighttime hours longer, and vice versa in the summer.

Summer Summer Winter Winter

Hours Begin

Natural Hour can be configured to start counting Roman hours:

  • at sunrise & sunset (12)
  • at civil dawn & civil dusk (12)
  • at civil dawn (24)
  • at sunrise (24)
  • at noon (24)
  • at sunset (24)
  • at civil dusk (24)