RSS
Home
Sun and fun in the Tropic of Cancer
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Photo: Marietta College
What is it about Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, the Sahara, central India, southern China, and the Pacific Ocean just north of Hawaii that makes them hot to the touch? They all fall in line with the Tropic of Cancer.
The Tropic of Cancer is an imaginary line that runs around the earth and marks a region where the climate is consistently warm.
If you look at a map and examine the parallel latitude lines you’ll see at 23 degrees 27’ north the Tropic of Cancer. This line runs around the earth across all the regions mentioned above.
Cancer is the Latin word for crab, and is the name of one of the 12 sectors that ancient astrologers marked off in the zodiac. If you were born between June 22 and July 22 then your zodiac sign is Cancer, the crab. No, I’m not going to read your horoscope for today.
The Tropic of Cancer line is the northernmost point where the sun appears directly overhead at least one day a year. The sun reaches this apparent position at 12:00 noon on or about June 21 of each year; at this time it appears at its highest point in the sky in the Northern Hemisphere, like here in Washington, D.C. This date marks the start of summer. In the Southern Hemisphere, however, the seasons are reversed; this date marks the start of winter in the Southern Hemisphere, and it is known there as the winter solstice.
Looking to take that next vacation for sun and fun? Follow the Tropic of Cancer to your next destination, say Costa Rica?
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
- Whirlpool is mixing up the profits in the market
- No bed of roses for furniture stocks, a bed of money
- Navy Subsonic Aerial Target System
- Herschel: Largest Space Telescope in the Universe
- France Launches First Missile Tracking Satellites
- How to Support Aircraft Transport at Naval Air Station Point Mugu
- Research Committee Recommends Overhaul of Crime Labs
- How to Perform Military Free Fall Training
- Investors Take a Seat with Retail Furniture Stocks
- U.S. Army Helicopters Visit Leesburg Executive Airport
- Hot Stocks in the Worst January Ever
- Have an Anti-Valentine's Day Celebration
- Whirlpool Stock on a Whirlwind Higher
