# Daylight, overnight presence and final Triton records

Updated September 12, 2026. The clock now covers July 4, 9:45 AM through July 5, 8:00 AM, in **CDT (UTC−5)**. Times after midnight keep their July 5 date in the controls, exports and saved scenarios.

## Moving sun and night sky

The existing NOAA/Meeus solar-position calculation now drives the visible solar disk, world-oriented directional light, sky tint and scene illumination. The location is the Horn Island reference, about 30.2437° N, 88.7776° W. Local differences along the mainland route are small; lighting is not recomputed from a boat's GPS track.

- July 4 sunset: **approximately 8:01 PM** at standard −0.833° solar elevation.
- Civil twilight ends: **approximately 8:28 PM** (sun −6°).
- Astronomical twilight ends: **approximately 9:37 PM** (sun −18°).
- July 5 sunrise: **approximately 5:59 AM**.

The July 4 sunset and civil-dusk values were independently checked against the [US Naval Observatory one-day service](https://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/RS_OneDay), using coordinates 30.243717, −88.777619 and time zone −5 without a second daylight-saving adjustment. The endpoint returned 20:01 and 20:28. [NOAA solar-calculation details](https://gml.noaa.gov/grad/solcalc/calcdetails.html) describe the geometry and its limits; [NOAA's equation notes](https://gml.noaa.gov/grad/solcalc/solareqns.PDF) define the sunset correction.

Moon direction and illumination use [SunCalc 1.9.0](https://github.com/mourner/suncalc/tree/v1.9.0), a low-precision astronomical approximation, with its BSD license retained in `assets/vendor/suncalc/LICENSE`. The USNO service reports a waning gibbous moon and a July 4 moonrise around 11:08 PM. Moonlight increases only when the modeled moon is above the horizon. Solar/lunar positions follow the date; the star field is decorative and is not an accurate constellation chart.

The afternoon cloud panorama is retained. Its evening colors, night appearance, atmospheric haze, exposure, cloud occlusion and lantern brightness are **visual assumptions**, not recorded weather or a measurement of what a person could see. A modest ambient fill makes night geometry readable. This display cannot establish visibility, recognition or a witness's line of sight from brightness alone. There are no newly inferred cloud locations, campfires or fireworks.

## Camping illustration

[Tracestin interview Part 5](../../transcripts/tracestin-part-5.html), from approximately **22:24 onward**, describes people and boats remaining after the main group, boats camping overnight, and a boat leaving around 8 PM. His broad counts are an attributed account, not a verified census. The supplied day footage does not identify these overnight vessels or their campsite locations.

The **Camping illustration** toggle adds a small representative scene: **two generic boats, four anonymous figures, two generic tents, one lantern/table and small illustrative boat lights**. These numbers and equipment are chosen for the illustration; they are not presented as the actual number of campers or boats. Its placement on the modeled beach is arbitrary within the study area and is **not a plotted sighting**. It does not assign any named person or previously matched daytime boat to camping.

Default attendance is **7 PM through next-day 8 AM**, with linked arrival and packing intervals. These endpoints are invented for the animation and can be edited by selecting each illustrative boat. Both arrival and departure controls include a July 4 / July 5 selector. The representative figures use the existing walking, wading, boarding and boat-linked presence logic. The campsite is omitted from reviewed source-camera comparisons. Earlier day objects and camera poses are unchanged.

The night event's 9 PM position is a navigation shortcut for an untimed overnight account, not an observation at 9 PM. Reaching 8 AM on the timeline is not a claim that the campers departed then.

[Editable camping Blender source](./models/horn-island-camping.blend) · [Model manifest](./models/camping-manifest.json).

## Triton's final evening sequence

The [MDMR Garmin extraction summary, page 2](../../documents/plunder/MI4088BU-GPS-Extraction-Summary-Redacted.pdf#page=2) records:

| Time · July 4 CDT | Reported event | Display |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 7:19 PM | Fort Bayou Boat Launch arrival | Public launch reference, following the existing estimated water route. |
| 7:47 PM | Boat trailered to a Cardinal Lane destination | Event and vessel status, with the redacted destination and unknown road path disclosed. |
| 7:59 PM | Last recorded GPS point that day | Timestamp shown; an exact private parking point is unavailable in the released summary. |

The 7:59 PM record is **just before computed sunset**. It is displayed in low evening light, not in full darkness. After the last placed water interval the boat is not left floating at the launch or assigned an invented address. The Travel view now offers direct buttons for all three records and retains the final-record explanation throughout the extended night timeline.