<p>This sky configuration is consistent with 40 degrees N, at about 6.30am (local time) at the end of November.  If you went to mid November, this would look the same at about 7.30am (ie 1 hour per half month).</p>

<p>The latitude of New York is about 40N, which makes sense for <s>a</s> this particular US TV show,  which is recorded live in New York City, "just down the street" from where Dr. Tyson works as directory of the <a href="https://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Hayden Planetarium</a>.</p>

<p>The way I guessed was from a combination of things. From where I live I'm familiar with the eastern sky, so it was obvious this wasn't looking east. So I played around with different times of day and directions, which confirmed this was a view from looking west, and south of where I live (50N).</p>

<p>This can be quickly confirmed with any on-line "planetarium" or sky viewer. For example here's a shot from <a href="https://in-the-sky.org/skymap.php?year=2018&amp;month=10&amp;day=29&amp;town=5128581" rel="nofollow noreferrer">in-the-sky.org</a> in planetarium mode, set to New York City, 6:15 AM November 20. It puts Aldebaran and Orion's belt both at about 10 degrees above the Western horizon, with only the beginning of twilight. Obviously other combinations of nearby dates and times can work as well.</p>

<p>The point is that the light in the image in the question is not the sunset or sunrise, so it must be a distant city in the West.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/I8kGj.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/I8kGj.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/WGxp6.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/WGxp6.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-28T15:58:43.530Z
2018-10-28T17:07:03.113Z
2018-10-28T17:07:03.113Z
Dr Chuck
<p>In his appearance on television contained in the video <a href="https://youtu.be/TgA2y-Bgi3c?t=465" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The Mystery That Keeps Neil deGrasse Tyson Up At Night</a>, in the backdrop behind astronomer and educator <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_deGrasse_Tyson" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Neil deGrasse Tyson</a> and the talk-show host, what latitude on Earth would have Orion's belt and Aldebaran at equal elevation (about 10 degrees) above the horizon? Could that be Sunrise/Sunset, or are those just city lights?</p>

<p>He's known to be a stickler about such things (the story about the stars in the movie <em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanic_(1997_film)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Titanic</a></em> for example). This background must be calculated from a particular latitude at least (if not longitude and/or season).</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/dJASQ.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/dJASQ.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<constellations><astrometry>
At what latitude could Orion's belt and Aldebaran be ~10 degrees above the horizon at the same time?
uhoh
# At what latitude could Orion's belt and Aldebaran be ~10 degrees above the horizon at the same time?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-10-28)

In his appearance on television contained in the video [The Mystery That Keeps Neil deGrasse Tyson Up At Night](https://youtu.be/TgA2y-Bgi3c?t=465), in the backdrop behind astronomer and educator [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_deGrasse_Tyson) and the talk-show host, what latitude on Earth would have Orion's belt and Aldebaran at equal elevation (about 10 degrees) above the horizon? Could that be Sunrise/Sunset, or are those just city lights?

He's known to be a stickler about such things (the story about the stars in the movie *[Titanic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanic_(1997_film))* for example). This background must be calculated from a particular latitude at least (if not longitude and/or season).

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/dJASQ.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/dJASQ.jpg)

**Tags:** constellations, astrometry


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-10-28. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

This sky configuration is consistent with 40 degrees N, at about 6.30am (local time) at the end of November. If you went to mid November, this would look the same at about 7.30am (ie 1 hour per half month).

The latitude of New York is about 40N, which makes sense for ~~a~~ this particular US TV show, which is recorded live in New York City, "just down the street" from where Dr. Tyson works as directory of the [Hayden Planetarium](https://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/).

The way I guessed was from a combination of things. From where I live I'm familiar with the eastern sky, so it was obvious this wasn't looking east. So I played around with different times of day and directions, which confirmed this was a view from looking west, and south of where I live (50N).

This can be quickly confirmed with any on-line "planetarium" or sky viewer. For example here's a shot from [in-the-sky.org](https://in-the-sky.org/skymap.php?year=2018&month=10&day=29&town=5128581) in planetarium mode, set to New York City, 6:15 AM November 20. It puts Aldebaran and Orion's belt both at about 10 degrees above the Western horizon, with only the beginning of twilight. Obviously other combinations of nearby dates and times can work as well.

The point is that the light in the image in the question is not the sunset or sunrise, so it must be a distant city in the West.

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/I8kGj.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/I8kGj.png)

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/WGxp6.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/WGxp6.png)


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