Answer to Question #105254 in Astronomy | Astrophysics for Hailey

Question

When it is winter in the northern hemisphere, explain the position of the earth relative to the sun

Answer 1

The earth is a large gyroscope. Its axis of rotation is inclined to the plane of the orbit around the sun at an angle $66.5\degree$. The gyroscope maintains the direction of its axis of rotation in space wherever it is located. The figure [1] shows two positions of the earth in orbit. On the left, the earth is in the position when summer is in the northern hemisphere (winter in the southern), and on the right when summer is in the southern hemisphere (winter in the northern ). The figure shows that in the first case the sun shines on the northern hemisphere at a high angle to the earth's surface, i.e. it rises above the horizon higher than in the second case. Therefore, in winter, the day becomes shorter and the night longer. The earth receives less heat from the sun for two reasons - less time of day lasts and the sun shines at a smaller angle to the surface. Both of these circumstances are best seen on the line of the Arctic circle (the blue circle on the globe). In the right image of the earth, everything that is closer to the earth's North pole than the Arctic circle does not come out of the shadow. Above the Arctic circle, the night lasts for a whole day in winter. At the opposite point of the orbit (it is left image of earth), the situation becomes reversed - the North polar circle is a whole day-day (summer is there), and the South polar (Antarctic) circle is a whole day - dark (winter).

Answer: When winter comes in the Northern hemisphere, the position of the Earth relative to the Sun is shown in the figure on the right.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axial_tilt