February 2 is Candlemas, one of the cross-quarter days: mid way between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. It’s also Groundhog Day.
The groundhog is also called woodchuck.
If the groundhog is the one named Phil who emerges from his burrow at Punxsutawney in Pennsylvania, he will see this sky.
And, because the Sun is up, he will see his own shadow (a lomg faint shadow until the Sun gets higher); which means, according to legend, that there will be six more weeks of winter weather, at least in this part of the world.
Or, if cloudiness is drawn across that sky, the perceptive rodent will not have a shadow to see, and spring weather will arrive sooner.
And if the smart observer who takes a look at dawn is the one whose birthday it is and who lives near Elvas in Portugal, the shadow’s forecast about the coming weather is extra important. Which kind of weather will be better for the olives in his orchard? Happy birthday, Tor!
Keen-eye groundhog, to see stars in the daytime sky. Humans have to see them with the mind’s eye, and may detect the slight differences for the two locations. The European location is slightly farther north, so the celestial equator is tilted slightly down toward the horizontal attitude it would have at the north pole.
February 1 looks overcast. To cast a shadow you would need a candle.
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Candlemas has dawned here in Sydney cool and windy: a welcome relief after a week of very hot temperatures.
The latitudes for the two locations have been inverted. Elvas is the one further south.
I think the maps ARE correct. Latitude increases as you go north.
Imbolc is the cross-quarter day observed on February 2.