How boring it would be to live if there were a change frosty winter the young and gentle spring would not come, it would not be replaced by summer with vacations and fresh fruits and vegetables, and velvet autumn is generally loved by many people for its tranquility and beauty. We accept all seasons, enjoy them, and rarely think about why the seasons change. This turns out to be complicated a natural phenomenon, based on the location of the planets - the Sun and Earth.

Annual circle of the Earth

If we talk about the change of day and night, then it is much easier to understand. The Earth turned to the Sun as your city, it’s day for you, it turned away, you look into dark space - it’s night for you. The Earth rotates around its axis in 24 hours. The reason for the change of seasons is that, in addition to this rotation, the Earth makes a circular path around the Sun. She completes this circle in 365 days and 6 hours, this time period is called a year. Over 4 years, 4 times 6 hours are accumulated, and appears in the calendar leap year, which has 366 days.

How do the seasons change?

The thing is that the Earth is in the orbit of the Sun not directly, but at an angle, the axis of the Earth and the orbit of the Sun form an angle of 23 degrees 27 minutes. And it turns out that one hemisphere is always closer to the Sun, and the second is further away. Therefore, one is summer, and the other is winter. It should be noted that in order for summer to come, the rays of the Sun must hit the Earth at right angles. When the Earth turns toward the Sun at a tangential angle, it turns out that the distance to the southern and northern hemispheres is the same, then spring and autumn begin. There are two days in a year when day is equal to night, and in the northern and southern hemispheres these parts of the day are compared. This occurs around September 23rd and March 21st. It is always summer at the equator, because the distance to the sun does not change here, the rays are always direct, and they provide the heat. There are places where it is always winter for the same reason. The sun's rays very rarely hit the Earth's poles at right angles, only tangentially. And, as we know, sliding rays cannot melt ice, they only illuminate the Earth. Only one thing always remains stable - the tilt of the Earth's axis, it is always directed towards the North Star, which always points to the north.

Model of the Earth and the Sun

To better understand how the seasons change, you can make your own model of the Earth and the Sun. Take a table lamp and place it in the center of the table. Now take an old ball and pierce it with a regular knitting needle strictly in the center. This is how we clearly marked the axis of the Earth. Tilt the axis approximately 23-25 ​​degrees, do not jerk your hand or change the direction of the axis. The more illuminated half of the ball from above? So it's summer there now. Now rotate the ball, move it 90 degrees. The previously bright half became equally illuminated as the other half. Therefore, autumn has come here. Now move another 90 degrees, our half of the ball has become darkened. It's winter here now, the rays of the lamp only fall on her in passing. After the next 90 degrees, our half will be lit a little brighter, and, returning to its previous position, it will again become the lightest. It's been a whole year!

The root cause of everything

That's how it works the world, the change of seasons is a brilliant invention of nature, the Universe. It is this that ensures balance in space, causes not only the seasons to change, but also water to circulate on the planet, volcanoes to erupt, and currents to move in the ocean. Everything on Earth happens precisely because of this, namely, the forces that ensure interaction between the planets, and in our case, between the Earth and the Sun.

- (spring, summer, autumn, winter), dividing the year into periods in accordance with the apparent movement of the Sun along the celestial sphere (along the ecliptic) and seasonal changes in nature. The change of seasons is caused by the movement of the Earth in its orbit around the Sun and its inclination... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Geographical encyclopedia

Seasons- (St. Petersburg, Russia) Hotel category: 3 star hotel Address: Nevsky Prospekt 74 ... Hotel catalog

SEASONS, four astronomical and climatic periods years associated with changes in the heating of the Earth's surface by the Sun as the Earth makes an annual revolution around the star. Due to a certain constancy of the position of the earth’s axis... ... Scientific and technical encyclopedic dictionary

- (spring summer, autumn, winter), dividing the year into periods in accordance with the apparent movement of the Sun along the celestial sphere (along the ecliptic) and seasonal changes in nature. The change of seasons is caused by the movement of the Earth in its orbit around the Sun and its inclination... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

- “THE SEASONS”, Belarus, State Television and Radio Radio of the Republic of Belarus, 1994, color, 80 min. Fantasy. The film is a myth, the components of which are episodes of a person’s life, scattered across the seasons. Cast: Stefania Stanyuta (see STANYUTA Stefania Mikhailovna), Svetlana... ... Encyclopedia of Cinema

The beauty of spring is experienced only in winter, and, sitting by the stove, you compose the best May songs. Heinrich Heine Spring is the solvent of winter. Ludwik Jerzy Kern If the chair rises with you, it means it’s summer. Walter Winchell Summer: the season, too hot... Consolidated encyclopedia of aphorisms

See Art. Calendar. (Source: “Myths of the Peoples of the World.”) ... Encyclopedia of Mythology

Four periods of the year (spring, summer, autumn and winter) characterized by certain average temperatures. The beginning of each season has a clear astronomical boundary. The ecliptic (the apparent path of the Sun's movement across the celestial sphere) is divided into four... Collier's Encyclopedia

- (spring, summer, autumn, winter) the long-established division of the year into periods in accordance with the visible movement of the Sun across the starry sky and seasonal changes in nature. The change in V. g. occurs due to the fact that the axis of rotation of the Earth ... ... Big Soviet encyclopedia

Books

• Seasons, Tikhonov A.. Seasons are the first thing that “passes” in kindergarten, not missing a single holiday of autumn, winter or spring, collecting leaves in autumn bouquets, making bird feeders, snow fortresses, watching...
• Seasons, A.V. Tikhonov. Seasons are the first thing that “pass” in kindergarten, not missing a single holiday of autumn, winter or spring, collecting leaves in autumn bouquets, making bird feeders, snow fortresses, watching...

Seasons- parts of the year that differ in climatic characteristics. For example, in temperate latitudes there are 4 seasons - spring, summer, autumn and winter, and in tropical areas - dry and rainy climatic seasons.

How the seasons change

The seasons clearly depend on astronomical phenomena. As the Earth moves in orbit around the Sun, the climate on Earth also changes (Fig. 1). The figure shows four positions of our planet. So the time of year is considered the period during which the Earth passes between these positions. The earth completes a circle in 365 days. Home The angle of the Earth's inclination (23.5) plays a role in the implementation of the seasons. It is the tilt of the Earth that brings one side halfway, then the other halfway around the Sun. In other words, either the Northern or Southern hemisphere of the Earth is closer to the Sun relative to the entire planet. If there were no such angle of inclination, seasons would not exist. Over the entire journey (year), the Earth would be illuminated and heated equally relative to the Sun.

Difference in the length of the seasons

The duration of the seasons and their changes depend on speed movement of the Earth in orbit around the Sun. The closest point in the orbit to the Sun is called - perihelion. It's January 2nd. At this time, the Earth has a high speed, which is why winter is very shorter than other seasons in the Northern Hemisphere. And in the south it’s the other way around. Also from this emerge indirect and direct reasons for the change in seasons. Direct ones include:

• Seasonal changes in the length of daylight hours. In summer, the days are long and the nights are short. In winter it's the opposite.
• Seasonal changes in the height of the sun at midday above the horizon.
• Seasonal modifications in the path length of solar rays in the atmosphere affect the degree of their absorption. Absorption occurs in the lower layers of the atmosphere.

Indirect ones include:

• spherical shape of the earth
• Parallelism of sun rays
• The tilt of the Earth about its axis

Difference between hemispheres

• Autumn equinox: September 22 - 23. The sun moves from the northern to the southern hemisphere
• Spring equinox: March 20 - 21. The sun moves from the southern to the northern hemisphere

The seasons in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres are opposite. The earth has climatic zones. This exists due to the physical characteristics of the surface of land and water. On different continents, climatic seasons begin differently relative to the astronomical time of year.

In hot countries, the seasons appear slightly differently than in mid-latitudes. For example, in India there is a very severe drought in winter. In winter, the winter monsoon blows from the land to the sea. In spring, the winds blow from the sea to the land, thereby bringing moisture with them.

The North and South Poles have the same climate. Always Winter. The difference between Winter and Summer is the amount of light, not heat. In spring and summer, the sun moves across the sky all the time, so the day is around the clock. In winter it is continuous night.

Moving in outer space, the Earth undergoes four types of motion. It rotates along with the Solar System around the center of the Galaxy. Our planet, together with the Solar System, completes one such revolution, called a galactic year, in 280 million years.

The influence of this movement on the processes occurring on Earth has not yet been studied. The Earth rotates around the Sun at a speed of approximately 30 km/s in an elliptical orbit at an average distance from the sun of 150 million km. If you imagine the incredible thing that the Sun suddenly stops attracting the Earth, then our planet will rush into space at a speed of 30 km/s.

The planet completes one revolution around the Sun in 365.24 days. This time is called the sidereal year.

The Earth's axis is constantly inclined to the orbital plane along which the planet moves, at an angle of 66°33`22″. The axis does not change its position as the Earth moves, so during the year different parts of the earth's surface receive unequal amounts of light and heat. The tilt of the earth's axis and the revolution of the earth around the sun cause the change of seasons.

The Earth rotates around its axis, making a full revolution in 23 hours 56 minutes and 4.1 seconds - a sidereal day. Thanks to this movement, the change of day and night occurs on the planet.

Together with its natural satellite, whose mass is commensurate with the mass of our planet, the Earth rotates around a common center of mass with the Moon, making one revolution in 27 days and 8 hours. The Earth and Moon are considered a double planet. In the Solar System, only Pluto has a satellite - Charon, whose mass is comparable to the mass of this planet. Most planets solar system several satellites, and their masses are much less than the masses of the planets themselves.

Change of seasons

From June to August, the Earth is in such a position relative to the Sun that the Northern Hemisphere is illuminated more and receives more heat. At this time, the earth's axis is tilted with its northern end towards the Sun and it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere. June 22 - the day of the summer solstice - The sun is at its zenith over the Northern Tropic. IN Southern Hemisphere from June to August is winter, because the southern end of the earth's axis is tilted away from the Sun. The southern hemisphere seems to have turned away from the sun and therefore receives less heat and light. At this time there is a polar night beyond the Antarctic Circle.

The Earth is constantly moving in its orbit around the Sun. On September 23, the day of the autumnal equinox, the Sun is at its zenith above the equator, in the Northern Hemisphere it is autumn at this time, and in the Southern Hemisphere it is spring. Both hemispheres are illuminated evenly and receive the same amount of heat.

By December, the Earth finds itself on the other side of the Sun - on the opposite side of its orbit. Now the hemispheres seem to change places: the southern end of the earth's axis faces the Sun and it is summer in the Southern Hemisphere. December 22, on the day winter solstice, The sun is at its zenith over the South Tropic.

On the day of the vernal equinox - March 20-21, the Sun again stands at its zenith above the equator, day is equal to night and the hemispheres are evenly illuminated and heated. Then the days in the Northern Hemisphere begin to lengthen, and in the Southern Hemisphere they begin to become shorter.

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The change of seasons is an eternal and unchanging phenomenon of nature. The reason for this is the movement of the Earth around the Sun. The path along which the globe moves in outer space has the shape of an elongated circle - an ellipse. The sun is not at the center of this ellipse, but at one of its foci. Therefore, throughout the year, the distance from the Sun to the Earth changes periodically. The transition from the warm season (spring, summer) to the cold season (autumn, winter) does not occur at all because the Earth is either approaching the Sun or moving away from it. But even today many people think so!

The fact is that the Earth, in addition to revolving around the Sun, rotates around an imaginary axis (a line passing through the North and South pole). If the Earth's axis were at right angles to the Earth's orbit around the Sun, we would have no seasons and all days would be the same. But this axis is tilted relative to the Sun (by 23°27"). As a result, the Earth rotates around the Sun in an inclined position. This position is maintained all year round, and the Earth's axis is always directed to one point - to the North Star. Therefore in different time Years the Earth exposes its surface to the sun's rays in different ways. When Sun rays falling vertically, straight, the sun is hotter. If the rays of the Sun fall on earth's surface at an angle, they heat the earth's surface less.

The rays of the Sun fall on the Earth. The Sun always stands directly on the equator and in the tropics, so the inhabitants of these places do not know the cold. There the seasons do not change as abruptly as here, and there is never snow. At the same time, for part of the year, each of the two poles is turned towards the Sun, and the second part is hidden from it. When the Northern Hemisphere is turned toward the Sun, countries north of the equator have summer and long days, while countries to the south have winter and short days. When the direct rays of the Sun fall on the Southern Hemisphere, summer begins here, and winter begins in the Northern Hemisphere.

Winter and summer in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres The longest and most short days in the year are called the winter and summer solstices. Summer solstice occurs on June 20, 21 or 22, and winter - on December 21 or 22. And all over the world, every year there are two days when day is equal to night. This happens in spring and autumn, exactly between the days of the solstice. In autumn this happens around September 23rd - this is autumn equinox, in the spring around March 21 - the vernal equinox. The annual motion of the Earth around the Sun