|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
What causes the seasons
Traditionally,the seasons were explained using a vague reference to
'tilt' as though the orientation of the Earth to the Sun was responsible for temperature fluctuations at different latitudes. The actual cause of the seasons and a suitable explanation reflecting the planetary dynamics behind these changes is quite different and requires the isolation of daily and orbital characteristics.This is achieved by focusing on the planet's two daylight/darkness cycles and the individual cause of each insofar as we experience the daily daylight/darkness cycle due to daily rotation and the entirely separate polar daylight/darkness cycle where ,after a brief twilight period at the orbital point of the equinoxes,6 months of darkness turns into 6 months of daylight and visa versa. The polar coordinates,where daily rotation is absent or residual,pass through the circle of illumination at the equinoxes and these polar coordinates act like a beacon for the orbital behavior of the Earth insofar as aside from daily rotation,all locations on the planet would experience a single daylight/darkness cycle as our planet,moving along its orbital circumference turns through 360 degrees to the central Sun over the course of an annual orbit.It takes a broom handle to substitute for daily rotation and its orientation and any object to act as the central Sun to imitate the orbital behavior of the Earth by walking around/orbiting the central object/Sun.The broom handle ,again,acting for 'tilt',only provides a window into the orbital behavior of the Earth as a person must walk backwards in circling the object,sometimes crabbing sideways before walking forwards in completing a circuit.As a person will observe that different parts of their body face the central object at different points from an orbital line perpendicular to the central object/Sun, like a separate longitudinal motion that runs from a line from Arctic circle down to Antarctic circle rather than the traditional view of referencing axial 'tilt' or inclination to the Sun. In short,an additional piece of information is required to explain the seasons or why natural noon cycles vary when allied with daily rotation and the most suitable route is through acknowledging the planet's two daylight/darkness cycle with the explanation for the latter strictly an orbital characteristic.I do not have to remind readers that the inability to explain the polar daylight/darkness cycle is not that much more difficult than explaining the daily daylight/darkness cycle due to daily rotation so people have now a gauge as to how astronomically intuitive they are . Once an astronomer sees the polar twilight sandwiched between polar daylight and polar darkness in terms of the passage of the polar coordinates through the circle of illumination they will be unable to work with 'tilt' as the cause,the role of 'tilt' goes into determining whether a planet has a largely equatorial climate like the Earth or a polar climate such as Uranus which has unique axial orientation. |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
why we have seasons | Howard Lester[_1_] | Amateur Astronomy | 5 | June 26th 09 09:27 PM |
The seasons | oriel36[_2_] | Amateur Astronomy | 0 | July 1st 08 04:19 AM |
Seasons Greetings. | GordonD | Amateur Astronomy | 0 | December 25th 07 06:56 PM |
The Seasons | oriel36[_2_] | Amateur Astronomy | 22 | April 16th 07 03:25 PM |
earthquake, seasons and day | Ian Beardsley | Amateur Astronomy | 6 | January 1st 05 04:17 PM |