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At the equator, the solar rotation period is 24.47 days. This is called the sidereal rotation period, and should not be confused with the synodic rotation period of 26.24 days, which is the time for a fixed feature on the Sun to rotate to the same apparent position as viewed from Earth (the Earth's orbital rotation is in the same direction as the Sun's rotation).
It is at its lowest point at midnight, and appears to move in the plane of the equator. At locations away from the equator, the noon altitude of the Sun will be reduced by the angle of the Earth's local horizontal to the polar axis – the latitude – so at a latitude of 10° south or north, the noon altitude will be 90° − 10° = 80° at ...
The Sun rotates faster at its equator than at its poles. This differential rotation is caused by convective motion due to heat transport and the Coriolis force due to the Sun's rotation. In a frame of reference defined by the stars, the rotational period is approximately 25.6 days at the equator and 33.5 days at the poles.
The Sun appears to move northward during the northern spring, crossing the celestial equator on the March equinox. Its declination reaches a maximum equal to the angle of Earth's axial tilt (23.44° or 23°26') [ 8 ] [ 9 ] on the June solstice , then decreases until reaching its minimum (−23.44° or -23°26') on the December solstice , when ...
At the equator (0° latitude), on the equinoxes, the sun angle is always 90° no matter the axial tilt, while on the solstices the minimum sun angle is equal to 90° minus the tilt. Therefore, greater tilt means a lower minimum for the same maximum: less total annual surface insolation at the equator.
Sun path, sometimes also called day arc, refers to the daily (sunrise to sunset) and seasonal arc-like path that the Sun appears to follow across the sky as the Earth rotates and orbits the Sun. The Sun's path affects the length of daytime experienced and amount of daylight received along a certain latitude during a given season.
That means the sun’s warmth and light fall unequally on the northern and southern halves of the planet. During the equinox, the Earth’s axis and its orbit line up so that both hemispheres get ...
The descended air then travels toward the equator along the surface, replacing the air that rose from the equatorial zone, closing the loop of the Hadley cell. [3] The poleward movement of the air in the upper part of the troposphere deviates toward the east, caused by the coriolis acceleration. At the ground level, however, the movement of the ...