![]() ![]() On these dates, the noon Sun will appear directly overhead at the Equator and everywhere on Earth will experience 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night. These equinoxes happen on or around 21 March (the spring or vernal equinox) and 21 September ( the autumn equinox). ![]() In between the solstices are two positions in Earth’s orbit where neither north nor south poles are pointing towards the Sun. As a result, everyone in the southern hemisphere will experience their longest daylight hours this time. On or around 21 December, the south pole faces towards the Sun the north pole points away, and the noon position of the Sun is directly overhead on the latitude of 23.5⁰S (the Tropic of Capricorn). The opposite situation occurs at the December solstice (known as the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere and the summer solstice in the southern hemisphere). It also means that, on or around 21 June, the position of the Sun is directly overhead at local noon anywhere along the latitude of 23.5⁰N (the Tropic of Cancer) and everyone in the northern hemisphere will experience their longest daylight hours on that day. This means that, in the Arctic, the Sun shines for 24 hours a day, while in the Antarctic, it does not shine. The schematic below illustrates this situation.Īt the June solstice (known as the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere and the winter solstice in the southern hemisphere), the north pole points as far towards the direction of the Sun as possible, whilst the south pole points away. They occur because the Earth’s axis of spin lies at an angle (23.5 degrees) to the plane on which it orbits the Sun. The solstices and equinoxes are defined by Earth’s position in its orbit relative to the Sun.
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