Shade Map • Hacker News Board

Re: Shade Map

#31

Post by josters » Wed, Aug 12, 2026, 8:53 PM UTC

waterpowder wrote: post #2

It reminds me of this nice website for when you want to have a drink in the sun at a terrasse in Paris :D https://jveuxdusoleil.fr/#16/48.8551/2.3479

Very nice! I’ve built something similar for Berlin[1] which is based on a digital surface model to also accurately cast shadows from trees, hills and bushes.

[1]: https://sunsit.io/

Re: Shade Map

#32

Post by dewey » Wed, Aug 12, 2026, 9:10 PM UTC

stilldavid wrote: post #24

jborichevskiy wrote: post #20

I've wanted something like this - in Boulder the foothills cast a shadow on the town considerably earlier than sunset provided by weather apps. So in theory, this should be possible to figure out when a park will actually see a sunset. Nice work!

One of my favorite apps is PeakFinder, it shows local topography in an AR style UI. It also shows where and when the sun will set given the mountains around you! Well worth the few bucks.

Agreed! It's one of these apps (Similar to Flightradar) that just feel like a great use of technology and add a little bit of joy.

Re: Shade Map

#33

Post by km3r » Wed, Aug 12, 2026, 9:27 PM UTC

My friends and I used this for a camping party's solar panel's placement (for charging a battery). A large campsite with intermixed trees makes it hard to find the optimal spot on our own, but this map helped us keep the party going late into the night before we needed to turn on the generator.

Re: Shade Map

#34

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Aug 12, 2026, 9:30 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Shade Map

#35

Post by beezlewax » Wed, Aug 12, 2026, 9:37 PM UTC

tppiotrowski wrote: post #9

4corners4sides wrote: post #4

Does this handle eclipses

Not specifically for eclipses but has been useful in finding places where the sun will be visible during the current eclipse since the eclipse will occur when the sun is quite low on the horizon.

I used this to check if I could see today's eclipse in Barcelona from my apartment buildings roof. Worked pretty well.

Re: Shade Map

#36

Post by utopcell » Wed, Aug 12, 2026, 10:12 PM UTC

4corners4sides wrote: post #4

Does this handle eclipses

It doesn't. I went to Saragoza in Spain, at 8:30pm on August 12 to verify. Cool project nonetheless.

Re: Shade Map

#37

Post by andybak » Wed, Aug 12, 2026, 10:20 PM UTC

According to this my garden is almost entirely in the shade but I have a suntan to disprove it.

Re: Shade Map

#38

Post by cadamsdotcom » Wed, Aug 12, 2026, 10:37 PM UTC

soizi wrote: post #27

https://jveuxdusoleil.fr/#16/48.8551/2.3479 it exists since many years with this French website

Had a quick go of it on mobile.

That version has major UX issues unfortunately.

Re: Shade Map

#39

Post by procflora » Wed, Aug 12, 2026, 10:37 PM UTC

I've seen and loved this before but only today I thought to zoom all the way out and see the true terminator affected by elevation. We usually only seen the idealized smooth curve. Very neat!

Re: Shade Map

#40

Post by jborichevskiy » Wed, Aug 12, 2026, 10:44 PM UTC

stilldavid wrote: post #24

jborichevskiy wrote: post #20

I've wanted something like this - in Boulder the foothills cast a shadow on the town considerably earlier than sunset provided by weather apps. So in theory, this should be possible to figure out when a park will actually see a sunset. Nice work!

One of my favorite apps is PeakFinder, it shows local topography in an AR style UI. It also shows where and when the sun will set given the mountains around you! Well worth the few bucks.

Definitely one of my favorites too! In my experience though it's best used at the location you're expecting the sunset, tricky to see when a specific point elsewhere will have their sunset (it may have changed though, I should check this)