How the Tropics Got Their Names - Deepstash
How the Tropics Got Their Names

How the Tropics Got Their Names

Curated from: thoughtco.com

Ideas, facts & insights covering these topics:

4 ideas

·

460 reads

2

Explore the World's Best Ideas

Join today and uncover 100+ curated journeys from 50+ topics. Unlock access to our mobile app with extensive features.

The Naming of The Tropics

The Naming of The Tropics

  • The Tropic of Cancer. It was so named 2000 years ago because the sun was positioned in the Cancer constellation during the June solstice.
  • The Tropic of Capricorn. It was so named at the time because the sun was in the constellation Capricorn during the December solstice.

The sun is no longer in those constellations at that time of year. The sun is now in Taurus at the June solstice, and in Sagittarius at the December solstice.

28

213 reads

Why the Tropics Are Important

  • The Tropics are places within the hemisphere where the sun can be directly overhead.
  • This was essential for ancient travelers who used the sun and stars to guide their way.
  • The Tropic of Capricorn can be found at latitude 23.5 degrees south, and the Tropic of Cancer at 23.5 degrees north.

19

86 reads

The Major Circles of Latitude

Latitude and longitude are used as addresses for every part of the world. On maps, latitude lines are horizontal, and longitude lines are vertical.

To define boundaries between countries that lack distinctive geographic borders, like mountain ranges or deserts, arcs of latitude are used. There are five significant latitude circles: Arctic Circle, Tropic of Cancer, Equator, Tropic of Capricorn, and Antarctic Circle.

20

78 reads

Living in the Torrid Zone

The geographical zone between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn is known as the Torrid Zone - also commonly known as the tropics.

The tropics have a moist climate and lush green vegetation. It is warm to hot year-round. Some areas in the tropics such as the Sahara desert or Australian outback are defined as "dry".

20

83 reads

IDEAS CURATED BY

iceicegrama

I am sexy because I have beautiful thoughts.

Vanilla Eyes's ideas are part of this journey:

How To Become a Better Decision-Maker

Learn more about artsandculture with this collection

Understanding the importance of decision-making

Identifying biases that affect decision-making

Analyzing the potential outcomes of a decision

Related collections

Similar ideas

monsoon

4 ideas

monsoon

nationalgeographic.org

What is an equinox?

4 ideas

What is an equinox?

livescience.com

Read & Learn

20x Faster

without
deepstash

with
deepstash

with

deepstash

Personalized microlearning

100+ Learning Journeys

Access to 200,000+ ideas

Access to the mobile app

Unlimited idea saving

Unlimited history

Unlimited listening to ideas

Downloading & offline access

Supercharge your mind with one idea per day

Enter your email and spend 1 minute every day to learn something new.

Email

I agree to receive email updates