1. This field will display as the location in the generated calendar. Manually entering a location will search for it (either by clicking the find button, or by changing to another field) and attempt to find it on a map. If found it will set the latitude, longitude and elevation of the first matching location found. Please ensure that the location on the map matches the location you are looking for. This look-up will not set the time zone. Please select the proper time zone.
2. Use the decimal format such as 40.096 for Lakewood, NJ. Use negative numbers south of the equator.
Note: For far northern (or southern) locations, there are times of the year that the sun will never be below or above the horizon (and actually calculate to an invalid mathematical value, see JavaDocs of
AstronomicalCalendar for more information). The calendar displays a value of N/A. You can use the Map to select the latitude and longitude for your location. To use this feature, use the map controls to get to the desired location and click on it. This will set the longitude and latitude for the point on the map that you clicked. In addition, updating the latitude and longitude in the form will move the pin to the selected location.
3. Use the decimal format such as -74.222 for Lakewood, NJ. Use negative numbers west of the
prime meridian (Greenwich). See the previous note for additional information.
4. Elevation in Meters above sea level. Negative numbers can not be used. This is used if you opt to calculate
vasikin at elevation. This will only have an effect if the “Use Elevation” option is set to yes (see note #
8). It is currently implemented by all algorithms in the Zmanim package using the formula zenith = zenith + Math.toDegrees(Math.acos(earthRadiusInMeters / (earthRadiusInMeters + elevationMeters))) found in Calendrical Calculations. A similar algorithm found in
Maaglay Tzedek would be to add 0.0347 * squareRoot(elevationMeters) to the zenith. Use 0 to default to the standard algorithms.
Note: Elevation lookup courtesy of
Google’s elevation API.
5. Please check that the correct time zone was set by the system for the selected location.
6. Different algorithms are available for the sunrise / sunset calculations that form the basis for all zmanim calculations.
NOAA is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration algorithm.
USNO is the US Naval Observatory algorthm.
7. The year is used to ensure correct start and end of daylight savings time. It will also ensure that the the proper Jewish date is dsplayed and that February 29th is present on a leap year.
Note: The calculation of zmanim remain almost identical from year to year (with a drop of a change for the 1/4 day difference mostly fixed by the leap year every 4th year) using the USNO algorithm, so the calendar can be used for any year. The NOAA algorithm adjusts the calculation based on the year and will be more accurate if you set the proper year.
8. if set to “No” (the default), sea level sunrise will be used. If set to Yes, the elevation will be used.
9. The title that will appear in the header when printed. Typically fill in the minyan name and address.