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summer. In summer it is in the sky longer and so there is more daylight. People could keep track of the changing seasons by the amount of daylight. They realized that the Sun rose in different places as the year progressed. A year had passed when the Sun rose in the same place again. This is called a solar year . What actually happens is that the Earth moves, not the Sun. One year is the time the Earth takes to go round, or orbit, the Sun. Some people built huge temples of wood and stone columns that showed where the Sun would rise on the longest and shortest days, or the days that summer returned or the harvest started. Stonehenge, in England, is a well-known example of one of these giant clocks. It was built over 3,000 years ago. NIGHT AND DAY As it travels around the Sun, the Earth is also spinning round on its axis and it is this that makes it look as if the Sun and Moon rise in the east and move across the sky to set in the west. A day is the time between one sunrise and another, or between one sunset and another. The rising and setting of the Sun told people when a new day was beginning. The ancient Egyptians and Greeks both chose sunrise as the start of the new day, but other peoples, such as the Jews and the Muslims, chose sunset. Today, we also use the word day to mean just that part of a whole day when the Sun is in the sky.

For centuries people all over the world worshipped the Sun. It was the source of light and warmth, and also a great natural timekeeper. Temples such as Stonehenge were constructed to show where the Sun would rise at different times of the year.

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