How would the angle of insolation compare between two corresponding latitudes in the Northern and Southern hemisphere? For example, how would 40 degrees north compare to 40 degrees south.?
Thankss a lot!
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Thankss a lot!
10 POINTS BEST ANSWER!!(:
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The varying angles of insolation will be the same though the period of a year but six months out of phase.
The greatest and least angles of insolation will occur for one hemisphere six months after those for the other hemisphere.
The Sun travels between it's most northerly and most southerly limits through the course of a year.
The angle the ecliptic is tilted at with respect to the equator is 23.5 degrees so the total angle of change between the northern and southern limits of the Sun is twice that, 47 degrees, because the Sun moves 23.5 degrees north and south of the celestial equator, which is an imaginary projection onto the sky of the Earth's equator.
When the Sun is highest at midday in the northern hemisphere sky it is lowest at midday in the southern hemisphere sky.
Six months later it is highest in the sky at midday in the southern hemisphere and lowest in the sky at midday in the northern hemisphere.
At equal latitudes north and south of the equator the maximum and minimum solar altitude are therefore the same but separated by a six month period of time.
At latitudes greater than 23.5 degrees, the lines of the tropics, the direction of the Sun in the sky is reversed throughout the year as seen from one hemisphere compared to the other, with the Sun always shining from the north in the southern hemisphere and from the south in the northern hemisphere.
At the poles, the celestial equator is on the horizon and at the Earth's equator it passes through the zenith.
At the equator therefore the Sun's range of midday altitude through the year is 23.5 degrees either side of the zenith and at the tropic lines the Sun can reach the zenith on only one day each year....which is how a tropic line is defined.
The greatest and least angles of insolation will occur for one hemisphere six months after those for the other hemisphere.
The Sun travels between it's most northerly and most southerly limits through the course of a year.
The angle the ecliptic is tilted at with respect to the equator is 23.5 degrees so the total angle of change between the northern and southern limits of the Sun is twice that, 47 degrees, because the Sun moves 23.5 degrees north and south of the celestial equator, which is an imaginary projection onto the sky of the Earth's equator.
When the Sun is highest at midday in the northern hemisphere sky it is lowest at midday in the southern hemisphere sky.
Six months later it is highest in the sky at midday in the southern hemisphere and lowest in the sky at midday in the northern hemisphere.
At equal latitudes north and south of the equator the maximum and minimum solar altitude are therefore the same but separated by a six month period of time.
At latitudes greater than 23.5 degrees, the lines of the tropics, the direction of the Sun in the sky is reversed throughout the year as seen from one hemisphere compared to the other, with the Sun always shining from the north in the southern hemisphere and from the south in the northern hemisphere.
At the poles, the celestial equator is on the horizon and at the Earth's equator it passes through the zenith.
At the equator therefore the Sun's range of midday altitude through the year is 23.5 degrees either side of the zenith and at the tropic lines the Sun can reach the zenith on only one day each year....which is how a tropic line is defined.
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