In the Northern Hemisphere, the Summer Solstice occurs when the sun is directly above the Tropic of Cancer, usually June 21. You may have noticed two special lines of latitude on a globe of the world: One in the Northern Hemisphere called the Tropic of Cancer at +23.5° latitude and one in the Southern Hemisphere called the Tropic of Capricorn at − 23.5° latitude.Īt these latitudes, the sun is directly overhead around noon on the solstices. The higher the number, the farther north (if it’s a + number) or south (if it’s a − number). Other useful, but imaginary, lines around Earth that are parallel to the Equator are called lines of latitude. That makes the latitudes of +23.5° and −23.5° special. This tilt is the cause of Earth’s seasons.Įarth's axis of rotation is tilted 23.5°. This line is tilted 23.5° from Earth’s orbital path around the sun. It divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere.Īnother imaginary line drawn straight through Earth connecting the North Pole to the South Pole is Earth’s axis of rotation. The equator is an imaginary line drawn right around Earth’s middle, like a belt. These lines are important, because they help people navigate and measure time. It has to do with some imaginary lines on our planet. At dawn on the Summer Solstice, the rays of the sun would have shone straight through what is called the "slaughter stones" to exactly strike the "altar stone" in the center. Here is a guess at how Stonehenge might have looked about 2400 BC.
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