Quitsato Sundial

The Quitsato Sundial is a cultural-tourist place located at La Mitad Del Mundo, near to Cayambe, 47 km north of Quito, Ecuador.

It consists of a circular platform of 54 m (177.64 ft) in diameter which forms a mosaic of light and dark pebbles drawing an eight-pointed star that indicates the solstices and equinoxes, plus intermediate lines pointing to the cardinal directions.

The ten-meter-high (33 ft) gnomon represents the metric system, based in the meter, which in its origin was intended to equal one ten-millionth of the quadrant of the Earth's circumference.

The purpose of the color difference between the stones, apart from showing equinox and solstice lines, is to explain the meaning of albedo and its use in astronomical study.

The Ecuadorian Military Geographic Institute has placed two cylinders surrounded by concrete on a platform on top of the Equatorial line, with a 1 mm error margin determined by using GPS and GNSS equipment.

Projection of the shadow of the gnomon at the equinox. Cayambe (volcano) can be seen behind, the only place where the Equator passes through a glacier. Also, it is the highest point on the Equator in the world.
A GPS reading of the Equator north of the sundial.