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Old September 5th 18, 07:50 AM posted to sci.astro.amateur
Gerald Kelleher
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Default The dynamical principles of the seasons

The polar day/night cycle is an expanded version of the 24 hour day/night cycle with its noon/midnight markers on the June/December Solstices and sunrise/sunset on the March/September Equinoxes.

The South pole location turns parallel to the orbital plane so the Sun has yet to come into view even though it has been constant dawn for a number of weeks. On the Equinox, the Sun will come into view for the first time in 6 months affirming what reasonable people should know - that when daily rotation and all its effects are subtracted, the entire surface of the planet will still turn once to the Sun each year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okw6Mu3mxdM


That event is like no other sunrise as it affirms the Earth also turns parallel to the orbital plane with the North and South poles acting like beacons for that rotation.

http://afewbitsmore.com/img/2015_ecliptic.png

Remove the unsightly 'pole' and up the use of images of other planets,graphics and illustrations to demonstrate that seasonal variations are much more intricate than the normal 'tilting pole' explanation.

I don't exist in a no-man's land between academics and the wider population because that is a hopeless position which suggests an attempt to impress people. Astronomy is a shared experience with its own individual talents and social responsibilities but at its centre is a more intimate connection between observer and creation including the experienced changes of a moving Earth in a solar system structure. It is not intelligence but kindness that is required along with courage that will open up the faculties which make astronomy such a joy in so many ways.