Equinox comparison

Like many people,the Wikipedia site is an invaluable place to find
articles about anything and I am sure many students look to it when
researching material.So,here is how the site shows the Earth at the
Equinox -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:E...equinox_EN.png

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equinox

Actual imaging of the Earth from space shows a different perspective -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwTrYVBcx9s

What is the point of astronomy if it cannot adjust and adapt to what
modern imaging dictates.The time lapse footage above represents a
view where daily rotation and subsequently 'tilt' is absent and yet we
see a limited view of the seasonal mechanism (limited because we are
orbitally travelling with the Earth).

I have well understood that variable axial/equatorial inclination was
the explanation of the great Copernicus and the Wiki article reflects
that position of variable 'tilt' however I implore responsible people
to take another look at the seasonal explanation and give it the
respect it deserves using modern imaging techniques.

On Sat, 20 Sep 2008 00:48:18 -0700 (PDT), oriel36
wrote, in part:

What is the point of astronomy if it cannot adjust and adapt to what
modern imaging dictates.The time lapse footage above represents a
view where daily rotation and subsequently 'tilt' is absent and yet we
see a limited view of the seasonal mechanism (limited because we are
orbitally travelling with the Earth).

I have well understood that variable axial/equatorial inclination was
the explanation of the great Copernicus and the Wiki article reflects
that position of variable 'tilt' however I implore responsible people
to take another look at the seasonal explanation and give it the
respect it deserves using modern imaging techniques.

Astronomy should indeed acknowledge the facts.

I know that in English, the word "tilt" has more than one meaning, and
one of the meanings it does have is to *move* from a vertical direction
to one not entirely vertical. That is indeed not appropriate; the Pole
Star would not be the Pole Star all year around if the Earth's axis
changed where it pointed.

But "tilt" can also be the fixed amount by which a plane surface
deviates from the horizontal, or an upright pole from the vertical, and
it is this sense - the difference between the Equator and the Ecliptic -
that it is used here.

The inclination of the Earth's axis to the ecliptic is constant, but the
orbital component - the direction from the Earth to the Sun - is what
changes. This is what Copernicus explained, and this is what modern
imaging confirms.

Or, in such a poor picture as I can draw with typed characters:
//-/---/-------/----*----/-------/---/-//

John Savard
http://www.quadibloc.com/index.html