Why can't it all the time be summer? It's due to tilt of the earth

Curious Kids is a show for teenagers of all ages. If you will have a matter you'd like an authority to reply, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

---

Why can’t it all the time be summer? – Amanda, 5 years old, Chile

---

With its long days just waiting to be spent by the water, summer can truly be a fascinating season. As Jenny Han wrote within the young adult novel:The summer I became pretty“: “Everything good, every little thing magical happens between the months of June and August.”

But all good things must come to an end, and summer cannot last endlessly. There is a straightforward reason for this, and a more complicated one. The easy reason is that it cannot all the time be summer since the Earth is tilted. The more complicated answer requires some geometry.

I’m a Professor of Geography and Environment who studied seasonal changes within the landscape. Here you could find out what the seasons must do with the position of our planet on its journey through the solar system.

Proximity to the sun doesn’t explain the seasons

First of all, you will have to know that the earth is a sphere – technically a oblate spheroidThis signifies that the Earth has a round shape that’s barely wider than it’s high.

Every 12 months the Earth orbits the Sun once. The orbit is an ellipsewhich resembles an oval quite than a circle. So there are occasions when the Earth is closer to the Sun and times when it’s farther away.

Many people assume that this distance is the rationale for the seasons. But they’re fallacious. In the United States, the Earth is 3 million miles closer to the sun. in winter than in summer.

Spins like a top

Now imagine an imaginary line across the earth, exactly in the center, at 0° latitudeThis line is known as the equatorIf you were to attract it on a globe, the equator would go through countries like Brazil, Kenya, Indonesia, and Ecuador.

Everything north of the equator, including the United States, is taken into account Northern Hemisphereand every little thing south of the equator is the Southern Hemisphere.

Now think concerning the Earth axis as one other imaginary line running vertically through the middle of the Earth, ranging from the North Pole to South Pole.

As the Earth orbits the Sun, it also rotates. That is, it spins around its axis like a top. The Earth takes an entire 12 months to orbit the Sun and 24 hours or a day to rotate once on its axis.

This axis is the rationale why there may be day and night: in the course of the day we face the sun and at night we face away from it.

But the Earth's axis doesn’t run directly up and down. Instead, its axis is all the time inclined at 23.5 degrees in the exact same direction, towards the North Star.

The Earth’s axis is tilted by an enormous object – possibly an old planet – collided with it billions of years ago. And it is that this tilt that causes the seasons.

It all relies on the inclination

This signifies that in June the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the sun. This tilt means more sunlight, more solar energy, longer days – all of the things that make summer so special.

At the identical time, the southern hemisphere is tilted away from the sun. Therefore, countries like Australia, Chile and Argentina experience winter right now.

In other words, because the Earth moves across the Sun all year long, the parts of the Earth that receive probably the most sunlight are consistently changing.

Fast forward to December, and the Earth is on the precise opposite side of its orbit than it was in June. The Southern Hemisphere is now tilted toward the Sun, meaning it's summer here in December, January, and February.

If the earth weren’t tilted in any respect, there could be no seasons. If it were tilted more, there could be much more extreme seasons and drastic temperature fluctuations. Summers could be hotter and winters colder.

Definition of summer

If you talk over with a meteorologist, climate scientist, or creator Jenny Han, you'll learn that for us within the Northern Hemisphere, summer includes the warmest months of the 12 months, June, July, and August.

But there may be one other solution to define summer. If you talk over with astronomers, they’ll inform you that the primary day of summer is the Summer solstice – the day of the 12 months with the longest daylight duration and the shortest darkness.

The summer solstice occurs yearly sometime between June twentieth and twenty second. And every single day after that until Winter solstice In December, daylight is barely less intense within the Northern Hemisphere.

Summer officially ends on Autumn Equinoxthe autumn day when there may be an equal amount of daylight and night all over the place on Earth. The autumn equinox occurs yearly on September 22 or 23.

But whether you have a look at summer like Jenny Han or like an astronomer, one thing is definite: Either way, summer must end. But the season and the magic it brings will probably be back earlier than you think that.

---

Hey, curious kids! Do you will have a matter you'd like an authority to reply? Ask an adult to send your query to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com. Please tell us your name, age and town you reside in.

And since curiosity knows no age limit, adults can take part too. Let us know what interests you. We can't answer every query, but we'll do our greatest.